Matteo Alessi on designing a legacy

I went to meet the scion of the legendary House of Alessi at Bloomingdale’s Home section at Dubai Mall with a solid set of preconceived notions. Young, male, Italian, rich, famous and running a family business that makes some extremely beautiful products.

He would have to be flashy and colourful, right? I couldn’t have been more wrong. The 32-year-old Matteo Alessi, who serves the company established by his great grandfather, is the figure of composure. He is also polite, respectful and completely confident in an understated way.

Easy-going about his rather privileged upbringing, he says it was a lifestyle common to many of his contemporaries growing up in northern Italy. “Life those days was simple and idyllic. We were never made to believe that we were special in any way,” he says. “Of course I was exposed to an interesting environment, and got to see the factory in operation, but I was definitely never pressured to join the company. There are 15 of us in my generation, and even if four of us were to join the family business just because we were pushed to do so, it would be a disaster for the company!”

Dynastic succession is not, according to him, a good formula for a company’s success. There must be passion to take the job. “I think every individual must have an abiding passion for what he wants to do. I believe I always knew I wanted to join Alessi and make my mark on this enterprise which was started by great grandfather. Today, I am living that dream,” he says with a smile.

Work

I have always been inspired by successive generations of Alessis who created the brand. Yes, every now and then, I think it would be nice to be a ski teacher or a motorbike inventor, but those moments are rare. I enjoy my work. Sometimes I do get the feeling that some employees listen to me because I am the son of the boss! I think it is their problem if they don’t want to see me for who I really am. I am a pretty confident person.

Part of the process of working at Alessi if you are an Alessi is to first acquire a postgraduate degree, work in some other company and prove your abilities by being evaluated objectively by its management. Only then do you gain a foothold at Alessi.

People always ask me if it is easy or difficult working in a family-owned business. My reply is it might seem easy in day-to-day dealings, but at the core of it you are evaluated more stringently. You have to work harder to prove yourself because you are from the family.

At Alessi, I oversee management and business development across verticals, not necessarily across regions.

My work philosophy is that if you have a complaint about anything, there are two ways to handle it – you can either do something about the problem, or learn to accept it and stop complaining. You can try to convince and to change people’s minds, but if they remain unyielding, you have to drop it and move on.

We work with some 200 international designers at any given time, and design is
the mainstay of everything we create. If the company has any design philosophy at all, it is to promote innovation and creativity. When we see someone do something new, we try to mine his talent, so we can collectively add value to the world of design. We don’t see ourselves as primarily a manufacturing company that makes household products and kitchenware. We try always to blend art into everything we make. We also believe in bringing in new talent all the time. Creativity is endless.

Although my wife, Daniela, and I essentially love minimalist design, and Alessi has often been perceived as favouring a more classical tone, I have to say that we do not follow
a straight-and-narrow design philosophy. There are completely over-the-top designs like Philippe Starck’s The Juicy Salif lemon squeezer which was designed in 1990 when the designer was supposed to come up with a tray and decided we needed a lemon squeezer instead!

The item has gone on to become an icon, which could not have happened if we had decided to be stuffy about it. We have a range of products designed by cartoonists, painters and architects – it is a bit like farming: you have to prepare the soil, plant the seed, water the soil and nourish it and then sit back and see what happens. Nothing grows quickly – one really has to be patient and wait for something wonderful to develop.

Although we’ve been present in Dubai for some ten years now, it is true that we have been supplying only what we have been asked for here. But now we have decided to proactively promote our product distribution in the region. Alessi is opening a niche shopping enclave in the Bloomingdale’s Home store in Dubai Mall. Furthermore, we are launching a small exhibition of a 22-piece set called the ‘Tea & Coffee Towers’, which will showcase interesting tea and coffee collections designed by 22 famous architects who we are working with.

We never consciously set out to make something that will be a trend-setter or fashionable. The less you focus on trying to set a trend, the bigger the chance that you will actually do so. We’re fashionable because we don’t aim at being fashionable. I think we believe, as a unit, that excellent design is its own reward – timeless and eternal in its appeal.

I joined Alessi in January 2005. For the first three years, I served as managing director of Alessi UK. I have brought my own definition of communication, branding and modernity into an organisation that has been around for generations so, understandably, there will be some degree of challenge and resistance from a few older employees who cannot understand why they need to do something in a different way. But I like to believe I am a people-person, and so I can talk to them and make them see things my way. I am also rather stubborn!

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is important to us as a family-run company and we have gained so much from the region where we have been present for decades. I believe it is essential to give back. We do so, in subtle and in obvious ways. For example, Amici dei Bambini (AIBI) is an international humanitarian organisation for the protection of children’s rights and Alessi collaborates with AIBI to run the ‘The Dream Factory’ project, a partnership between Alessi and the International AIBI. Amici dei Bambini launched in 2006 with the aim of making dreams come true for children who are being raised in orphanages in many countries around the world.

The Dream Factory’s trip around the world this year will bring the project all the way to Brazil, to fulfil the wishes of 20 children and teenagers living in the Casa Lar Campo Formoso. (For more information on AIBI and The Dream Factory Project, log onto www.t-dream.org/ or www.amicideibambini.it/).

Play

I do love to escape from reality every now and then. Who doesn’t? I recently came across this website that rents islands in Nova Scotia for something as reasonable as $40,000 per year.

I think I would love to move into someplace like that and be a fisherman or lumberjack but I am also grounded enough to realise I would get bored.

I am quite an outdoors person, and make it a point to exercise a lot. If I don’t for three days, then I get nervous and irritable. I enjoy skiing and playing golf and football once a week with friends is a must. My main hobby is playing with my kids and our dog.

I don’t get much time to read. If I do something as relaxing as reading I fall asleep these days! I am a big music buff. Soft pop and soft rock are divine, U2 and Bruce Springsteen are my very favourite musicians.

My three favourite places to go on a holiday would have to be Scotland, for its golf and the incredible natural beauty, Africa (I went to Namibia for my honeymoon and the desert there is the most amazing thing ever) – and the saddle of my motorbike. It gives me the freedom to go anywhere and do anything.

I am generally sociable and easy to work with. Of course a couple of people may not agree. But I do, as a boss, like to put people in a position where they can express themselves in the best way possible.

I am very transparent and have no fear of expressing my views about things or people. But I am not very good at saying no. If I have to tell you something you won’t like, I don’t do it too well as a boss.

I also hate arguments, unlike some people who love a debate. We have so many daily problems anyway, let’s not create any more. And yes, I have a low tolerance for falsehood and fakeness in people.

Dream

Like most people I thrive on my dreams, and am quite ambitious about making these come true. As a person, I think my biggest dream is to be a good father and husband, and to find a way to balance my personal life – in which I want to do a lot of things – with my professional life.

As a professional, I would love to be able to leave a positive imprint on the evolution of Alessi, the company that was founded by my forefathers, and to mark a milestone in the development of the company.

Family is very important, probably because of the kind of sheltered, suburban upbringing we had. I always make it a point to spend weekends with my family. My twins, Giacomo and Annalisa, are three, and little Carolina is one.

I dream of leaving my kids the legacy that gives them the freedom to decide, by setting a good example of achievement through effort, focus and concentration. I feel strongly that my children will have to set their own goals. My own personal goal is to raise them to become good people who are able to make their own decisions, and the ability to discern and differentiate between the good and bad.

British poet Robert Frost once wrote: “But I have… miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” I feel exactly the same way about my own goals and hopes. There’s still so much I have to do. I want to ride my motorbike across the American continent (from Alaska all the way to the bottom of Argentina), and I want a golf handicap of three or less. So there is plenty left to achieve.

Dubai’s just too hot for someone like me who is used to the mountain air, yet I enjoy coming here because I perceive endless possibilities here – there is an abiding feeling that if you have a big idea here and are willing to work hard, you really can achieve your dreams.

Dubai has what US President Barack Obama would call a “yes we can” philosophy. We are definitely open to possibilities of working with designers from the region.

Today life, to me, is great. I like to believe problems do not exist. I know you are thinking, he’s a rich guy, he’s an Alessi so he can afford to say that, but seriously, I believe that problems are not problems in themselves; they are only situations or circumstances which, depending on how you approach them, can turn into opportunities or obstacles. Only you can build or break your life.

Inside info

A few of his favourite things: Alessi’s own Programma 8 tableware range by Franco Sargiani; the stainless steel Bombe tea service designed in 1945 by his grandfather, Carlo; and the 9090 espresso coffee maker by Richard Sapper, on show at MOMA in New York.

Anupama V Chand is Dubai-based freelancer