Company

The brand Design Apparat is the result of a unique collaboration between Italian and Bulgarian players, operating respectively in the complementary fields of design and production in the furniture sector.

The collection is designed by Mirko Tattarini, professor at ISIA – Florence, founder and current CEO of Lagos Design Studios, the agency in charge of concept development and brand management of Design Apparat.

Furthermore, two are the Bulgarian companies involved: Nido, first importer of Italian furniture in Bulgaria and leading design showroom in Sofia, and Valiyan, a furniture and contract company working primarily for the local market.

This inedited path of European creativity benefits from the fusion of Italian design methodology together with the market competitiveness of the Bulgarian district in terms of row materials, provisions and human resources.

In addition to that, this partnership contributes to enlarge the map of European “design-focused” producing regions, beyond the geography of well established furniture districts, and surpassing the model of outsourcing as the only option adopted by Western companies operating in the East of Europe.

Design Apparat, on the contrary, contributes in creating an alternative model of economic development for the local furniture industry, based on the entrepreneurial engagement of local leaders, who are called to build a network that is involving foreign designers and consultants. Thus, respecting the environment, thanks to the choice of a short supply chain, and advantaging the final consumer, who benefits from enhanced access and inclusion in its own primary market, that of Europe.

Finally, Design Apparat’s interest in the valorisation of Bulgarian material design culture, an unexplored aesthetics so far, becomes a geopolitical symbol of the European Union enlargement, a small but significant renewal indicator of a wider and emerging European identity.