HENRYTIMI’s pure shades

It was difficult to prepare for this interview; online you are very elusive, and on the HENRYTIMI website there seems to be more poetry than information. 

Yes, I have always been a little detached from the system. I am not part of it – or rather, I am now part of it, because the system takes inspiration from me and that is a great responsibility and a daily challenge – but also a great joy. HENRYTIMI is very much listened to, and widely visited, so we try to maintain a certain level of coherence, a strong perspective. But yes, we are – and I am – outside the system, so you can find very little information about me, but that's okay. I am also a very private person. As for the site, this was a conscious choice: we narrate our projects in black and white, for example. We try to be what we are, and up until now we have made a more silent choice. 

How was HENRYTIMI born?  

From a need. I felt the need for something different, and I invented that something. It all started about ten years ago; I was experiencing an accelerated everyday lifestyle, and I could see it in the world of design as well as in the world of fashion, architecture, food, and music, which are worlds that I have always been passionate about, have always followed. I felt the need to create what I felt was missing on the market, for those who had a sensitivity similar to mine. I began with pieces, which I call the 'primitive collection': these are fundamental, very minimal pieces. I started exhibiting them and people around the world looked at them with interest. Those people gave me the strength to believe in it all; to implement a reality that, from a whispered, humble beginning, has become recognised, important and respected. We do not overlap with any other brand; we follow our own path, and will always try to adhere to this vision. 

How would you describe HENRYTIMI today?  

HENRYTIMI is a company that has always tried to tell the story of natural materials like stone and wood. It’s a brand which – using modern techniques, and thanks to high-profile, high-tech artistic manufacturing and people who believe in design – transforms even the most difficult, exclusive and complicated materials into extraordinary functional works. HENRYTIMI is a unique example of artist-manufacture, because in addition to representing thought, we represent design and manufacturing. We craft everything in-house, so we also represent quality, exclusivity, luxury, and true craftsmanship... it's a combination of all these elements.

Du har arbejdet sammen med Elisa Ossino på installationen Time and Matter i Brera og i forbindelse med det nye V-ZUG Studio. Hvordan har du fortolket hendes koncept?

Jeg har ikke fortolket konceptet, men tilføjet værdi med min forskning og kunnen. Elisa og jeg har kendt hinanden i mange år, hun har en stor sensitivitet og er den person blandt de internationale designere, som er tættest på min kunstneriske rejse. Installationen i Brera består af arbejder i naturlig travertin med iboende HENRYTIMI-ejendommeligheder. Det er kunstværker med dyb viden og dybdegående analyse, som også afspejler en simpel og derfor absolut skønhed. Vi glæder os over at kunne dele projektet V-ZUG Studio, som kommer af en rejse med fortsat og ekstrem research i kombination med vores ideer, som forvandles til funktionelle kunstværker. Kulturgenstandene i V-ZUG Studio - en vask, et køkken, en beholder og en taburet - er kronen på værket på en rejse, som har stået på i årevis sammen med V-ZUG, og hvis spirende resultat er kunst, som tilføres funktion.

Hvad består den nøglekollektion af, som er skabt sammen med Elisa Ossino?

Et møde, en vision, en kraft, som binder to følsomme sjæle. Kollektionen består af en taburet, et bord og et køkken, alle nummereret og fremstillet i Italien. Vi har kaldt den "Passione", hvilket betyder passion. Passion som en følelse, som vejleder, som ønsket om at forblive tro mod sig selv, åben overfor det nye og samtidig forankret i fortiden, til materiets uendelige tradition og til naturen, som er og altid vil være et bolværk for ethvert valg.

Hvorfor har du valgt V-ZUG som partner?

V-ZUG er et brand, som vi kan spejle os stilmæssigt i, fordi det fokuserer på det enkle, det væsentlige og det autentiske. Vi ser os selv som "den anden", vi er den anden side af markedet, den mere ekstreme og mindre kommercielle side, så vi synes om ideen om at indlemme teknologisk avancerede elementer, men med en smule poesi. Samarbejdet mellem HENRYTIMI og V-ZUG har vi kaldt "avanceret teknologi", fordi vi ikke bryder os om udtrykket "husholdningsapparat". V-ZUG er mere end dette koncept, noget, som går ud over systemet, som prøver at udvikle sig videre og adskille sig fra systemet. Jeg fandt V-ZUGs ønske om at markedsføre sig med et image, som har fokus på eksklusivitet og en meget høj markedsposition, øjeblikkeligt tiltalende og jeg må sige, at detaljerne virkelig gør en forskel. Vi fandt den perfekte partner til vores projekter i V-ZUGs elegante apparater, hvor den æstetiske essens også handler om uovertruffen viden og teknologisk præstation. Apparaterne er sat som ædelsten i vores funktionelle beholdere, som har et næsten totemlignende udtryk, som ikke blot afspejler stenen, men et helt univers af værdier.

How did the manufacturing of your designs come about?  

I have never considered delegating the creation of artefacts to third parties as the right way forward when it comes to a luxury product. The luxury product is not luxury because it is expensive; to us, luxury is service. This service is provided to the final customer but also refers to the service provided by the materials given to us by nature, which must be respected, taken, touched, processed, transformed, and reinvented. If you do this through different workshops, the soul dies. This is why we have structured ourselves in an important way, not only from an exhibition and storytelling point of view with our galleries in Milan and Rome, but also from a manufacturing point of view – so much so that our manufacturing brings together artistic carpentry, marquetry, carpentry, finishing rooms where we sand, paint, dye, and finish with our hands. We are an independent company: we make 90% of products in-house and offer a complete service, because whoever buys HENRYTIMI today buys a brand of the highest quality, one of the most exclusive, and we want to ensure maximum consistency. The factory is in the Marche region, in Corridonia: it's a magical place, just right for my artistic vision. It is not simply a place where work is done; I call it Manifattura [manufacturing] deliberately, because it is a place where hands combine with the mind, the soul, and a sense of sensitivity to produce beauty and wellbeing. Interestingly, it also represents who I am, who we are, from the outside. It is a white container surrounded by nature and animals: across from the factory is my horses’ stable. The interior is similar to that of my galleries.  

Your galleries are in Milan, Rome and Australia. Which of these places do you most belong to?  

The factory is in Corridonia because I am originally from Marche. I grew up among its ancient inland villages, nestled in Leopardi’s hills, their memory portrayed by Raphael's pictorial poetry. But I always dreamt of the city, so I came to Milan to work and study. I now split my time between Milan, Rome, Corridonia and the world: we work in all the most important cities and in the next few years are set to undergo some very important developments, keeping the approach we have here in Italy; i.e. high-profile gallery spaces located in high-profile places, with spaces that allow us to express who we are.