Billiani was founded in 1911 in Manzano in Friuli Venezia Giulia. A small workshop in a strategic area that contributed to laying the foundations for what, after World War II, was to become the productive district of the Friuli chair. In the years of the Italian economic boom, Billiani Bros. expanded and became more structured, while in the eighties, thanks to local flexibility and know-how, it began to make its mark on the international contract scene. At the beginning of the new millennium, Billiani began producing under its own brand. And collaborations with designers began. These included Marco Ferreri and Emilio Nanni, who have pushed forward the aesthetics and technology of wood, master Werther Toffoloni, with whom the company has reinterpreted models from Friuli chair tradition, and international names in Harri Koskinen and Michael Geldmacher.
From February 2019 Billiani has entrusted all artistic direction to Cristina Celestino, a Friuli architect and designer with her studio in Milan. In a broader corporate rebranding process, Celestino has redesigned the Billiani logo. Her role extends from product design and development to the search for a different way of presenting the brand. Also to make a foothold in the residential sector with a stronger and more defined image.
Billiani has been making chairs in Italy for well over a hundred years. The company is located in Manzano, in the heart of a district that has built its fortune based on chair manufacturing and which still boasts one of the world’s unique production hubs.
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