Herman Miller to Partner with Italian Manufacturer Mattiazzi

Beginning September 1, 2011, Herman Miller will become the exclusive distributor in the U.S. and Canada for Mattiazzi, manufacturer of wood dining chairs and tables. The offering will include the complete line of Mattiazzi products, including those designed by Studio Nitzan Cohen, Sam Hecht of Industrial Facility, and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. By partnering with Mattiazzi, Herman Miller expands the choices it provides to designers and consumers in North America.

“Mattiazzi has a history with design, craft, industrial processes, and sustainable practices,” says Jack Schreur, Vice President of Herman Miller Classics and Retail. “That makes them a natural fit with Herman Miller. In the past, when you needed a wood supplier that could do the impossible, you called Mattiazzi. Today, they’ve taken their expertise in wood manufacturing to a new level, partnering with leading designers.”

As with Herman Miller, Mattiazzi believes in the power of close partnerships with leading designers. Sam Hecht’s design for the Branca chair is a recent example. Cristina Salvati of Mattiazzi explains: “We understood early on, this design was something special that could not be rushed through a formal process. We took our time in the development with Sam to refine every detail and dimension.”

Erwan Bouroullec, who with his brother Ronan designed Mattiazzi’s new Osso chair, says the company piqued their interest because of its stand on the environment. “We were particularly interested by the fact that all the equipment is powered by solar energy,” he says, “and that the wood is coming from the surrounding areas to be carefully selected without the use of any chemical treatments.”

Mattiazzi was founded in 1978 by brothers Nevio and Fabiano Mattiazzi. They spent the next 30 years as an OEM supplier of wood components for many Italian and international furniture brands. In 2009, the Mattiazzi brothers introduced their first complete product with the He Said/She Said chair designed by Studio Nitzan Cohen. Today, Mattiazzi is still family owned and operated, and they continue to work with leading designers. Mattiazzi believes the design must strike the perfect balance between beauty and comfort. “Solid wood is warm and feels familiar,” says Cristina Salvati, “the design should communicate this to the senses.”

About Herman Miller, Inc.
Herman Miller works for a better world around you—with inventive designs, technologies and related services that improve the human experience wherever people work, heal, learn, and live. Its curiosity, ingenuity, and design excellence create award-winning products and services, resulting in more than $1.6 billion in revenue in fiscal 2011. Innovative business practices and a commitment to social responsibility have also established Herman Miller as a recognized global company. In 2011, Herman Miller again received the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s top rating in its annual Corporate Equality Index and was also cited by FORTUNE as the “Most Admired” company in the contract furniture industry. Herman Miller trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.

About Mattiazzi
Among contemporary furniture manufacturers, Mattiazzi, the family owned producer of wooden furniture in Udine, Italy, is uncommon. While many producers in that region rely on third-party factories and work in diverse materials, Mattiazzi operates with their own machines and hands, and has developed a healthy obsession for woodworking. Since 1978, when brothers Nevio and Fabiano Mattiazzi founded the company, Mattiazzi has steadily cultivated its local manufacturing culture. Their network of wood shops is diverse enough to support any manufacturing process the brand may need. Every shop has its own focus, from milling to lacquering, and a particular process always belongs to a specific part of town. But don’t let the neighborhood approach confuse you: Mattiazzi is no backyard shop. Their highly specialized craftsmen operate the most sophisticated machinery available to the wood industry. An eight-axis CNC milling machine allows wood to take the complex shapes associated with injection-molded plastic. Operating such a machine is an art and Mattiazzi disproves the modern myth that mechanized manufacturing is not a craft.