Born in 1963, Italian designer and entrepreneur Enrico Marone Cinzano gives a sustainable take on furniture, creating eco-friendly and durable pieces that are visually sculptural yet unrestrained. Although he was never formally trained in design, he grew up in architecturally rich cities such as Florence, Rome, and Turin; this gave him “a lot of schooling and training in the eye.” The absence of formal training helps him break boundaries without being restricted by the rigidity of rules. Before turning to furniture design, he pursued fashion and co-founded indie fashion label Project Alabama as co-creative director. This garnered much respect from the fashion industry; he won the 2003 Eco Domani award and placed in the CFDA Award before selling Project Alabama in 2012 to pursue furniture design.

 

Enrico Marone Cinzano’s work focuses on sustainability, craftsmanship, and conscious consumption. He draws inspiration from Nature and its proportions, respecting Nature and acknowledging the limited resources she can provide for a growing population.

 

In Marone Cinzano’s vision of the future of design, sustainability will become second nature. Performance and utility will reign over the consideration of aesthetics, creating more lasting works whose functionality is naturally pleasing to the eye instead of holding an imposed beauty. Consumption and materialism will lose their negative connotations once production becomes more sustainable. He believes in a lasting product with utility and structure that will never become outdated. The designer says, “To be truly sustainable, a product must last. But its longevity depends on more than the durability of its materials; the design itself must be timeless and the manufacturing based on quality. I strive to create that which will met all the criteria, sensual and practical, now and for many years to come.”