Milan Design Week. Interview with Pavlo Schtakleff from Sé

Milan Design Week gives us the perfect opportunity to meet up with design leaders. This year we also met Pavlo Schtakleff from Sé, founded in 2007 with the goal of making finely crafted furniture, pieces of timeless beauty.
 
During our chat with Pavlo Schtakleff at the Galleria Rossana Orlandi of course, we spoke about the key points of the company philosophy, focusing in particular on the issues we are really into here on Livegreenblog, namely sustainability. Here are our questions and the answers from the director and founder of Sé.

Sé crafts high-end contemporary furniture, created to be attractive and long-lasting, a bit like in the past when heirlooms were passed down from one generation to the next. Have luxury and durability become the new forms of sustainability, also in light of the many “green” products with very short lifetimes?
I do believe this, yes. At Sé we are creating pieces that have a timeless quality, that we really hope will become heirlooms of the future. I believe this extended functionality is a form of sustainability. However sustainability goes far deeper than that when you consider the revival and development of artisan processes employed to create each piece.
 
Could you give us a brief outline of the part played by artisan know-how - and therefore of craftspeople - in your company's design process? Initiatives like yours are helping us reassess the importance of this knowledge and of traditional trade crafts.
 The relationships we have with a new generation of passionate, highly skilled European producers are absolutely key. Working alongside them to bring a piece of Sé furniture to life is one of the most enjoyable parts of the job. These small, often family run companies are determined to draw on their traditional heritage whilst exploring new techniques to attain the finest technical standards in the face of increasingly stiff global competition. I feel very proud that we’re able to open up new markets to them and help them to keep going. They inspire me and drive me so that we can continue to grow our businesses together. For me, this is an important form of sustainability.
 
How important is colour in your collections?
"Colour has always been at the heart of Sé. In my early twenties I spent a year in Florence studying history of art focusing on the early Renaissance and was introduced to the work of Giotto and Masaccio; those rich, serene colours have had a lasting influence. When I started Sé, almost 10 years ago, the market was saturated with browns and beige, which of course work in their own way, but I felt there was a place for something different, something more colourful and uplifting. It's natural for me to select colours which complement the timeless, curved forms of the furniture; likewise, they have to be classic, elegant and inviting. The signature Sé pastel ceramic range was developed completely intuitively and whether I'm working with these or indeed deeper shades, my choices ultimately stem from a desire to create a universe which inspires those Florentine feelings of peacefulness and delight"

Christiane Bürklein

Manufacturer/brand: Sé
Designer: Nika Zupanc
Full product/'style' name: Stay Daybed
Materials: Seat and back can be upholstered in customer’s specified fabric or leather. Powder coated steel frame - available in a choice of finishes.
Find out more: Sé / www.se-collections.com /  +44 (0)20 7627 4282
Images: courtesy of Sé