Modern Practicality | Italian Wardrobe Design

It takes confidence and courage to rename a brand that’s been established for nearly thirty years, but that’s what the three cousins Alberto and Aldo Spinelli and Giovanni Anzani did when they renamed their family business Poliform in 1970.

Not content with simply modernising the name, they discontinued all the heavy, traditional Chippendale-style furniture that had previously been the mainstay of the family-run factory and replaced them with modern designs with a distinctly architectural edge. While proudly part of the Made in Italy movement and indelibly linked to Brianza’s fine furniture-making traditions, Poliform has embedded constant evolution in its DNA.

Produced in partnership with Poliform Australia

The IO walk-in closet system developed by Italian designer Paolo Piva in 1989 was the brand’s first truly iconic design. A modern modular walk-in-closet concept, IO was built with all the handmade qualities of traditional furniture, providing the customer with beautifully made cabinets, shelves, drawers and hanging spaces, which could be configured in a myriad of ways and manufactured in virtually any size.

“A milestone in our history was Paolo Piva’s IO wardrobe,” explains Poliform CEO Giovanni Anzani. “It helped us understand the design world; it was a research laboratory for us. The inspiration was the navy trunk,  a wardrobe that opens, and inside there are drawers and subdivisions for personal items. It allowed us to go beyond the traditional model and project ourselves into a new way of conceiving the wardrobe”.

“We have evolved the concept into three systems of different planning characteristics for an individual wardrobe/walk-in closet project” explains Anzani. Whilst the Senzafine wardrobe represents the archetype of the walk-in closet with bearing sides, of exceptional dimensional flexibility, Ego is the collection with bearing frame sides to create “open” compositions with aesthetics of lightness, and finally, the Ubik system is characterised by wall panels that can be freely combined.

Since the eighties, Poliform has pushed the contemporary walk-in closet to even greater heights, creating rooms-within-rooms with ample space, light, and comfort. The Senzafine system (meaning ‘without end’ in Italian) that followed Piva’s IO system was the culmination of more than a decade of research. Released in 1997, it remains one of the brand’s bestsellers and defines wardrobe excellence to this day.

With the involvement of Jean Marie Massaud, who began designing for the brand in 2010, Poliform has embraced a style of furniture that feels luxuriously refined with timeless appeal. Quality fabrics and leathers are combined with rich timbers and elegant stone but delivered in a beautifully subtle yet precise way. Internationally renowned designers such as Vincent Van Duysen, Emmanuel Gallina, and Marcel Wanders have added their unique vision to the collection in recent years, introducing interesting shapes and clever combinations of materials where gloss lacquer and natural timber are combined, or polished aluminium provide a counterpoint to the texture of woven fabrics.

Similarly, Poliform’s approach to wardrobe design involves a mix of technical precision with the artistic flair that designers Giuseppe Bavuso, Carlo Colombo, Rodolfo Dordoni, and Opera Design have brought to bear. Smoked or ribbed glass combines with techno-leather and minimal metal profiles to create refined spaces offering order through geometry and transparency. The versatility of the Poliform system means that customised compartments exist for every object in a customer’s wardrobe, from garments to handbags, hats, ties, belts, and shoes. Such is the architectural integrity of Poliform’s wardrobe offering that these dressing and storage spaces maintain and enhance the home’s architectural vision.

More than 50 years after its foundation, Poliform continues to grow and perfect its catalogue, investing in people, research, and technology to create spaces that streamline and enrich lives.