Bugatti and a slice of Italian luxury

MANILA, Philippines - For almost a century, the northern Italian commune of Lumezzane in the Lombardian region of Brescia has been home to legendary household appliance label Casa Bugatti. A celebrated family company built by brothers Joseph, John, Faustino, Hyacinth and Amadio Jr. in 1924, Casa Bugatti had since introduced revolutionary concepts and implements in what was once the mundane domain of the kitchen.

The house was the first to introduce die-casting in Italy for its nickel and silver-plated brass cutlery, which gave way to other innovations like silicon-brass alloy known around the world as “ega Bugatti.” This forward-thinking approach earned Bugatti acclaim around Europe; newer developments in culinary tools and trappings have been its inherent trademark.

Now the iconic label is home to a reputable army of designers and collaborators like Lorenzo Ruggieri, Nick Munro, and Giuliana Corsini, whose diverse talents and disciplines have lent color and avant-garde edge to Bugatti’s industrial aptitude. In 2005, Bugatti launched the Andreas Seegatz-designed Diva Espresso Machine, marking its first foray into the highly technical world of kitchen appliances. Its sleek and streamlined design and superior performance, which matched a stark palette of fire-engine red, earned it the title “the Ferrari of coffee machines.”

Since then, it has taken Casa Bugatti eight years to finally reach our shores, through luxury retail store Rustan’s. Just in time for the real estate boom and the reemergence of DIY domesticity, Casa Bugatti is known for its “small and large treasures for the home.”

To mark its first year in the Philippines, Casa Bugatti’s managing director Clemente Bugatti talked with The Philippine STAR about the brand’s relevance and what constitutes its newfound success.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR: Bugatti has been credited, for over 90 years, for adding that distinct Italian flair to kitchenware. How has your company direction changed over the years?

CLEMENTE BUGATTI: I think the brand awareness of the company changed a lot the moment we started to develop the smaller kitchen appliances line.  This gave the brand a different dimension where people can see the product and match the shape of the product to the brand.

What, in your opinion, makes the Casa Bugatti brand iconic throughout the years, and throughout the world?

Good question. Normally, this kind of question, when placed with the one who made the product, will find it hard to be modest and to say the genuine thing. But I can say what gives us the passion to develop our products all the time is how we try to find a new shape, a unique design, and to try to put the best features inside our product. So people can really enjoy using our product and enjoy how they look in their kitchen or dining room. So we want the people to create a very warm atmosphere when they decorate their tables with our cutlery or our porcelain or how they decorate their kitchen with our products. We want people to invest in our unique and decorative products.

Having been around for almost a century, and seeing how kitchen trends and buying patterns of consumers shift, what are the emerging trends in kitchen accessories that your company currently employs and how do they fit the modern lifestyle requirements of today’s market?

What we learn every day is through what our customers and all the people we meet share as their experiences with our products. All these things help us to develop new visions. We collect inspiration from many kinds of different ingredients. From what you want to see, from what you receive from others, and the combination of the inspiration of the moment and the creativity of the Italians is something that puts a big impression on what we develop.

In your first year in the Philippines, how do you see Casa Bugatti products matching the lifestyle, cooking, and dining habits of Filipinos?

We are very surprised to see the Filipino reaction through Rustan’s Department Store. We can see that the reaction is very good. We are so happy to see the reaction of the people to our colors. We can really see that color is imbedded in the culture of the Filipinos. Normally, it takes about two to three years for our brand to take off in a new country, so we can say that it’s a good start. What Rustan’s is doing in their stores helps us take off in the market, so their job is very important for us.

How is it working with Rustan’s in establishing your market here in the Philippines? How has the partnership become beneficial to your company’s growth in the country and the Asian region?

Our relationship with Rustan’s is great. We are both still family companies, so we have so many things in common. We have the same problems and we share the same success in life and in business, so we have a lot of things we can share. So, in my opinion, it’s just a start. But I can say, since the start is good, we have a long way to go. We are a company with a long-term vision. We are not people who would want to push to do business immediately; what we want is to build up the market the proper way. To create a good basement, and once you establish a good basement, then you can build it up.

For the benefit of the Filipinos who have yet to discover your brand, what does Casa Bugatti offer to the homes and kitchens of Filipinos?

First and the best reaction we get from Filipinos to our product is on the color and the cutlery. Amazing, and this is surprising to me, because in certain countries, for us, it’s easier to sell more of our electrical products. But here it’s the opposite because probably you really like good design, to have lunch or dinner with friends using good products, or have good decorations on your table.

What are the most definitive or iconic Casa Bugatti pieces every homemaker should have in his or her kitchen or dining area and why?

Number one, my favorite is the Diva Espresso Machine. It’s a unique product; you cannot have any other product to compare it with on the planet. You cannot see anything like it. Second, the color-handled cutlery. When I eat, the color-handled cutlery gives me joy, so when you’re tired after a long day or had a fight with somebody and you arrive home and see something colorful on a table, it just relaxes you a little bit, and your brain immediately gives you an excuse to fly over your problems. When you have a little color, you feel a little warmth.

Who are the most prominent designers in the Casa Bugatti roster and what are their respective contributions in the diverse assortment of Casa Bugatti products?

I can’t say that there is just one. We have three main designers to focus on different categories. There is my uncle, Virgilio Bugatti — he makes all our cutlery designs. Then there is Andreas Seegatz, an Italian-German who designed our Diva Espresso Machine. And Innocenzo Rifino, which is a team of two designers, and they develop our tableware line called Acqua. The beauty of all these designers is that they not only work on the shape of the product, they work on the design. Today, there is a great misuse of the word “design.” Design is how the product is created, the philosophy of the product, how to present the product. There are so many ingredients to the recipe of design.

For your new and current collection, what were the trends and defining look that helped craft it?

What we’re releasing this October are two new appliances with completely new designs. I hope Rustan’s will carry them; we have already presented these in Ambiente 2014 in Frankfurt. These products will have a completely different way for you to interact with the product. Normally, you have a product in your pocket that you use for many things. With these products, you will see what you can be able to cook with our new electrical appliances, so it’s a new world to discover. We started working on this idea two years ago, after developing a new technology. You’ll see something you have never seen in your life. You can still discover many new things; nothing is finished. All can be changed and redeveloped.

How do you see the future of the Casa Bugatti brand in the Philippine market and how do you think Rustan’s will help in fostering this?

Rustan’s is about 80 percent of our success here. They have the right windows, and they have the right way to present our products and the image of our company. This relationship between Casa Bugatti and Rustan’s has also helped us understand better what the Filipino market will want in the future. So it’s important for us to come here and engage with people, to learn more and more. This is the only way we can create the new opportunities we may have here. I’m sure we will grow in the next three or four years.     

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Casa Bugatti’s line of kitchenware, porcelain tableware, cutlery, and specialty kitchen appliances is available at Rustan’s Department Store Makati, Shangri-La Plaza, and Alabang.