September 10, 2018

Text: Mark McMenamin

B&B Italia Resurrects 71-Year-Old Italian Furnishings Brand Azucena

Select pieces from B&B Italia’s inaugural Luigi Caccia Dominioni collection, from left: ABCD armchair, Base Ghisa lamp, Catlinia chair, Cilindro ottomans, Imbuto floor lamp. Photography courtesy of B&B Italia.

B&B Italia has inked a licensing agreement to acquire the trade rights to Italian furnishings manufacturer Azucena, with the first reissues available this month through B&B Italia’s namesake stores and select retailers.

The Toro upholstered lounge chair from 1973 is among the Azucena reissues debuting in B&B Italia’s Luigi Caccia Dominioni collection. Photography courtesy of B&B Italia.

Founded in 1947 by Italian architects Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Ignazio Gardella and Corrado Corradi-Dell’Acqua, and named for a character in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il Trovatore, the line was an outgrowth of the custom furniture designed by the trio for their private clients.

Luigi Caccia Dominioni’s Nonaro outdoor ensemble from 1962 spawns a sofa in the late architect’s namesake collection at B&B Italia. Photography courtesy of B&B Italia.

The manufacturing and distribution alliance debuts with the Luigi Caccia Dominioni collection, consisting of “re-editions” of the first 20 products designed by Dominioni in postwar Italy. Dominioni died just weeks before his 103rd birthday in 2016.

Seating highlights include circular Catlinia chair in powder-coated steel from 1950, overstuffed Toro lounger (1973), spunky Cilindro ottomans (1963), and Nonaro outdoor ensemble (1962). Metallics rule the lighting assortment, such as the Base Ghisa (1953) and Imbuto floor lamps (1954).

B&B Italia is also launching a dedicated website for the collection later this month at azucena.it.

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