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Movimento Club: A nomadic gallery from London to Milan with Artefatto

Movimento Club is an expansive, creative umbrella: in conversation with Lorenzo Scisciani on Movimento Club, Lake Como Design Festival

The core of Movimento Club

Under a globalized umbrella, lies a plethora of emerging designers and brands working to make their mark. Lorenzo Scisciani and his business partners of the Artefatto Design Studio, Salvatore Morales and Sacha Andraos, act as the hands holding the umbrella up and open. They are the founders of the Movimento Club. The goal is simple. «It’s a hub, design gallery, a place where we try to promote emerging talents and creative minds that are spread all over the world», explains Scisciani. 

The founders are designers themselves. They understand the struggle and amount of work it takes to break into the international design scene. The group understood that it takes two to three years of investment in networking and creativity to be featured in an event space or gallery. When Movimento Club was conceived, Scisciani and his partners were living in London. They realized that to break into the international design scene, one must be present in France or Italy. 

Movimento Club was born from their personal struggles as young designers. They had a desire to help and streamline the road to international recognition for emerging talents. «The aim is to simplify the early careers of each designer and brand, no matter where they are in the world, and place them under the Moviemento umbrella», explains Scisciani. 

Movimento’s Tale of Two Cities 

For the partners, England was an interesting place to be. Then came Brexit, followed by the pandemic. Upon the two historical events, Scisciani claims that London turned into a different city and the group decided to return to their motherland, Italy. Scisciani reflects on this memory as a moment of joy because they felt like they were coming home. 

With keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive, Movimento kept an office in London because in their eyes, the English design scene cannot be left behind. However, it was Milan that improved and further shaped the identity of Movimento Club. 

Scouring the World for Newness

The aim of Movimento Club is to nurture talent by scouting. Scisciani and his partners travel to universities all over the world, visit small studios of young designers to push new discoveries into the design world. From there, they source. Not just any pieces, they direct their attention towards pieces that are functional with today’s world and that have commercial value. Then, they launch the designers via Instagram, newsletters, and events. 

For Movimento, it’s more about the designer, understanding the complications, potential, and return the designer may have. The technique that was used to create the piece, the how, and why. Conscious design is what they are looking for. When they are considering new designers, brands or pieces, Scisciani and his team look at specific pillars. Aesthetic and technique are crucial, followed by the story the designer wants to express and the sustainability aspect. 

The Movimento process

Movimento gets to know talents through various social media channels or travels. From there, they promote the designers. Scisciani claims that social media is one of their most used tools for scouting and promoting. The team creates relationships with professors and travels to various trade shows, events, and exhibitions, in order to create and expand the podium as a communication tool for the designers. 

Statistically, roughly fifty to sixty percent of the designers featured within Movimento are based in Europe. Movimento is researching young talent coming from Mexico. Scisciani credits this to social globalization. «Twenty years ago, we used to see completely different approaches to design», when comparing technology and production of pieces from America and Korea for example, to Europe. 

The Movimento Club favors sustainability. Scisciani and his partners understand the production chain of design and the difficulties of creating pieces that are one-hundred percent sustainable. When sourcing, they do what they can to ensure pieces have some aspect of sustainability. Younger generations and designers are aware of sustainable practices and self-sustainability. These designers are applying such practices to their pieces, Movimento Club has noticed. The innovative platform feels like they have a social contract to uphold, branching further out from sustainability. They pay attention to natural and political disasters – events such as the war in Ukraine. They created a page on their website, Design to Help. This is to open dialogues and create charity-like sales, with proceeds going towards causes close to their hearts. 

Movimento on a globalized world

Culture and globalizing lie within the hearts of the founders. Movimento plays on the differences in culture and communicating. They combine ideas together from a design point of view and give these values a new perception. Design is different no matter where you are in the world. Movimento being a research-based gallery, or ‘nomadic gallery’, needs to establish relationships and different viewpoints with the end client, according to Scisciani. For the founders, having production and designers spread all over the world is crucial. 

Even though Movimento is, and will always be on the move, the club is beginning to define five global landmarks, macro areas as referred to by Scisciani. These locations are spread around in America, Asia, and the United Arab Emirates, London and Milan. Scisciani stated that they have a goal of creating five physical presences in at least five major cities over the next year to create a stronger brand, with a global presence. 

Redefining retail and the experience for Movimento

Along with building their global presence, Movimento is also solidifying their affiliations with designers, global partners and brands. They are aiming to break into the luxury hospitality industry next year. Scisciani stated that they are working on a specific partnership with a boutique hotel chain. He explained that the world of hospitality is a future for designers that can, and must be, discovered for commercial success. Scisciani continued that he is a strong believer of the idea that multi-brand showrooms are on their way out of trend and believes that the public wants experiences instead. «Experience plays a part when it comes to making a purchase, at the end of the day it’s an investment. Experiences are what makes that purchase more memorable». 

The future of Movimento

Roaming around the world from one international design event to another is in the DNA of Movimento Club. Even more intertwined is the concept of communicating, but in their own way. The founders wanted to make sure they were rewriting the rules according to their desires and to reflect the current society we inhabit. Recently, they had an exhibition at Lake Como Design Week and in the future, visitors can look to find Movimento Club around the world, like Design Miami, for example. 

The founders are careful to ensure that they aren’t like other entities in the design world that try to promote new designers. They are aware of their competitions and what others are offering. The world is moving, dynamics shift, consumer behaviors and taste in design changes. As Movimento Club continues to grow, they plan to metamorphose their stories towards audiences that are interested in what they have to say. 

Movimento Club

Movimento Club is a project started by Artefatto to encourage and support young designers and emerging brands. They promote their work and connect them to clients. It launched in 2020 with a virtual reality exhibition featuring 45 designers from around the world. Movimento operates as a nomadic gallery. 

Kaitlyn Durbin

The writer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article.

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