The editorial staff of Archi&Interiors had the pleasure of interviewing Franco Dominici, President and Founder of Segis, and Francesco Dominici, General Manager , to explore the vision and strategies of a company that has been synonymous with excellence in the world of contract design for over forty years.
Founded in 1983 in Poggibonsi , Segis has its roots in the great Italian artisan tradition, reinterpreting it in a contemporary key through research and innovation. With a strong international vocation, the company stands out for the high quality of its products, its collaboration with world-famous designers and a concrete commitment to sustainability.
From furnishing accessories for the corporate and hospitality sector to public and commercial spaces, Segis has been able to evolve by responding to the new needs of the global market. His projects, characterized by a perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality, are today present in prestigious contexts such as Apple, Microsoft, Swatch and British Airways .
In this interview, Franco and Francesco Dominici accompany us in discovering the identity of Segis, describing the design approach, the importance of customization, the challenges of sustainability and the emerging trends in the contract sector. A journey between tradition and future, in which Made in Italy continues to be an essential point of reference for international design.
The soul of Segis: between artisan tradition and innovative vision
In the Tuscan language, “chair” is called “seggiola” and the name “Segis” is a reference that is difficult to forget. Your company was born in 1983 in Poggibonsi, but has its roots in an artisan tradition that dates back to the Renaissance. How important is this cultural heritage for Segis and how is it still reflected in your approach to design today?
The Renaissance is known as a period of cultural and artistic renewal, design identifies itself in this vision in the search for the beautiful, the current, the functional, and as a continuous search for new things. Segis renews the paradigms of International Design , creating products of extreme versatility and beauty and all furnishing accessories are the result of constant research by professionals in the sector, who, thanks to consolidated experience and passion, have created original products. The goal? Make the consumer experience memorable.
Segis is synonymous with innovation and quality in the contract furniture sector. What are the fundamental principles that guide the design of your products?
At the basis of the design of our products are quality, contemporaneity and product design, without neglecting fundamental aspects such as sustainability, which is increasingly central, and competitiveness. Segis positions itself as a point of reference in the design scenario and interprets its paradigms with an innovative attitude. The mission is to createre collections of furnishing objects to high quality standards in terms of design and production, durability and sustainability. Quality is guaranteed by the management of the entire process from the concept phase to Research and Development, up to the internal creation of the final product . With three production and commercial centers and technologically advanced structures located in Italy, the United States and Vietnam, Segis avails itself of a commercial distribution network capable of operating in various markets from the American to the Asian one. This worldwide system promotes optimization and efficiency in customer service and project management in terms of control over delivery times, logistics and service.
Ergonomics plays a key role in the design of your seats. How do you manage to balance comfort with the need to create products with a strong aesthetic impact?
Comfort, like performance, is part of the essential objectives of every project. It is necessary to find the right compromise between design and comfort to create products that are optimal from both an aesthetic and functional point of view. Designing a chair or an armchair is a job of extreme precision and competence, and for this reason the company aims to create a positive and comfortable environment for the consumer. The company produces accessories useful in everyday life, adaptable to different situations and for every design context, with a “live”, concrete, practical design.
You collaborate with internationally renowned designers such as Bartoli Design, Odo Fioravanti and Matteo Thun. How does a collaboration start and what is the creative process behind a new Segis product?
Each of our new products is born from the marriage of experiences between the company’s production possibilities and the designer’s creativity. Some meetings are casual, others are more planned, but a common vision is necessary to achieve the best result. The Research and Development office is the beating heart of the company and collaborates with the most important national and international designers and architecture firms to create new collections. The company is always open to new partnerships , collaborations aimed at the development of new products with increasingly cutting-edge and contemporary designs.
The design of furniture for the contract sector requires highly performing solutions, capable of combining aesthetics, resistance and functionality. What are the key elements that distinguish a Segis chair or piece of furniture from others on the market?
We like to think that they are all those listed in the second question, therefore quality, sustainability and product design. Obviously this is our judgment and the result of our experience, but then what counts is the reaction of the market and after-sales.
You have received prestigious awards such as the Compasso d’Gold for the UNO-R606 chair and Honorable Mention for Dragonfly. How important is recognition from the design community for Segis?
It is as important as winning a Gold medal at the Olympics, but prizes do not always indicate the success of the project. There are non-awarded projects that have received great response from the market and vice versa. We can say that we have had the honor of having obtained prestigious awards and international recognitions for originality and exclusivity. Among these, 2 Red Dot design award, 2 IF product design award, 3 Design Index ADI, 1 Compasso d’Oro to which is added an honorable mention, 1 Good Design.
Customization is increasingly requested in the world of contract furniture. How important is the tailor-made approach in your projects and what solutions do you offer to meet this need?
Being producers first and foremost (not only for the products in our catalog but also for other brands) allows us to be more reactive to certain requests, and in today’s market it is often essential. The solutions are the most disparate, from dimensional to chromatic, and vary according to the specific product. Segis products are unique and distinguishable with a strong personality, distinguished in functionality, attention to detail, technical solution, use of materials and finishes that make each piece of the collection customizable.
Your portfolio includes furniture for global brands such as Apple, Microsoft, Swatch and British Airways. What are the distinctive elements that make Segis a privileged choice for high-level companies?
We are not always able to understand the purchasing dynamics, but certainly the important points are: product quality, comfort, functionality, value for money, sustainability, service; each customer can then give more importance to one or more of these aspects.
The contract furniture sector is constantly evolving. The growing hybridization between work spaces, home and public areas has changed the way environments are designed. How do you respond to this transformation?
A careful market investigation is necessary to follow every evolution, it is a continuous adaptation to needs. From the Home to Contract sectors, the range of solutions proposed by Segis enhances environments of Hospitality, Residential, world Ho.re.ca (Café and catering), passing through Workspaces up to spaces of Community and Healthcare , offering a complete service of choice. durability is a strong point of Segis , linked both to the resistance of the materials used and to a broader meaning understood as a concept design that guarantees a product that is always current, timeless and capable of preserving and conserving its intrinsic value over the years.
In recent years you have expanded your international presence with factories in Vietnam and a base in the United States. What strategies do you adopt to guarantee uniform quality in all markets and maintain the excellence of Made in Italy?
Our products are made with the same procedural, construction and material specifications in each local location, localization not only allows for better just in time and lower transport costs, but also to reduce the resulting environmental impact.
Technological innovation is a pillar of your production, with advanced systems for robotic welding and epoxy powder painting. How do these technologies improve the quality and versatility of your products?
We use many different technologies, many have changed profoundly over the years, increasing efficiency, and meeting modern environmental needs. Others have changed less; obviously it is important to always be updated on the state of the art of each of them, to make sure you always use them to the best advantage.
Sustainability is increasingly central in contemporary design. What materials and production processes do you adopt to reduce environmental impact and guarantee a responsible life cycle for your products?
Segis has always given priority to sustainability, maintaining the high quality standards for which Segis is known. By using materials and processes more efficiently we can still offer well-designed, manufactured and environmentally friendly products. However, planning is often underestimated; a well-designed product guarantees durability, perhaps there are slightly cheaper alternatives, but receiving news from customers who have been using the same product for up to 20 years means having reduced end-of-life disposal to 1/4 compared to the average life of a product.
You have obtained important certifications such as ISO 14001 for environmental management and SA8000 for corporate social responsibility. How central is ethics in industrial production for Segis and what concrete actions are you carrying out in this area?
We were among the very first companies to receive the ISO 9001 certification IN 1998, followed by the 14.001 in 2001 and all the other certifications: SA8000, FSC etc., and we have always achieved a quality path that allows us to be leaders in a demanding market such as that of Contract. Respect for certain standards but also for certain behavioral policies is a firm principle not only in Italy but also and above all in foreign offices, where we have exported and developed this model also according to specific regulations.
Your products furnish hotels, airports, corporate headquarters, universities, cruise ships and public spaces all over the world. What are the biggest challenges in designing furniture for such different sectors?
In the end, it brings everything together: sustainability, functionality, design, value for money and service both before and after sales.
Design is constantly evolving,influenced by social, technological and aesthetic changes. What trends do you see emerging in the contract furniture sector in the coming years and how is Segis preparing to face the future of design?
We are at a crossroads where the positive and negative disturb enough to choose the right direction. What is certain is that the need for sustainability, the costs of the product and the materials to be used also put the world of design to the test. Our plans are medium-long term: it can take 3-4 years just to conceive and put a product into production. In the meantime, however, we see that political choices (in Europe, in the USA, etc.) are also being modified. This makes it very difficult to understand where to go and follow the market trend.
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