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True Heritage
100+10 Years of True Evolution
Poltrona Frau - from creator of icons to lifestyle
brand. The evolution of the brand through its
advertising campaigns. A journey into the spirit
and languages of the times: from the choice
of metaphorical contexts, to the construction
of inspirational environments, to the creation
of interactive images.
Images that tell more than words.
Retracing Poltrona Frau’s advertising cam-
paigns from the last ten years highlights the
important change in the company’s position-
ing from a creator of iconic products to an
inspirational brand. The ads reflect its con-
sistent and recognisable values, and describe
living spaces in the Poltrona Frau style.
The “Intelligence of hands” ad campaign
from 2012 to 2014 was designed by Saffirio,
Tortelli and Vigoriti, with photographs by
Giovanni Gastel. The images have a great
poetic and synthetic force. You can sense the
extraordinary tactile qualities of Pelle Frau®
leather and the manufacturing skill of the
Tolentino factory through the vivid colours
and unique details of each product. The intel-
ligence of the hands, to be precise; the soul
that our master craftspeople put into objects
created with passion, and with the finest
materials. It was a ground-breaking campaign
for the time, done in grand style. The success-
ful advertising claim became a metaphor that
still distinguishes Poltrona Frau today.
The theme of absolute quality and of
beauty are symbolically expressed in the par-
allels between the company’s timeless icons
and some of the most illustrious works in the
history of Italian art and architecture. “Italian
Masterpieces” is the advertising campaign
developed by STV/DDB (Saffirio, Tortelli,
Vigoriti) from 2015 to 2017 around images of
masterpieces, again taken by Giovanni Gastel.
Images that
Mark the Eras
True Heritage
The seats are the main focus at the centre of
the scene, in environments with a rarefied
and suspended atmosphere. Icons of con-
temporary living interact harmoniously with
the historic rooms of the Venaria Reale in
Turin, Palazzo Corsini in Florence and Palazzo
Colonna in Rome. The campaign was created
as an evolution of the previous one, inspired
by intelligence of the hands: when the know-
how for which Poltrona Frau is an ambassador
is expressed in top-quality craftsmanship, it
rises to an art form much like the expression
of applied arts in Italian artistic masterpieces.
We can see a change of direction in the
advertising communications since 2018 to
date. The Grand Tour through the beauty of
architectural heritage becomes international,
and the journey becomes a more private,
internal experience. The extraordinary archi-
tecture of Gio Ponti’s Pirellone, Mies Van der
Rohe’s Villa Tugendhat (Brno) and the seaside
residence at Cap-Martin become the settings
for a narration that takes place at the level of
the objects. It is no longer the narration of a
single product, but of a life circumstance, of
the harmony that the furnishings mediate
between the space and those who live in it.
An atmosphere that inspires the viewer. Here,
the image becomes alive, thanks to a skilfully
orchestrated consonance of products and
furnishing accessories in a more intimate
dimension, accompanied by the words of
great writers.
