Visionnaire & the path towards a lower impact

2024 marks an important year of celebration for the brand, as the parent company IPE srl Benefit Company commemorates 65 years since its foundation, and Visionnaire celebrates its 20th anniversary.
For Visionnaire, the twentieth anniversary is a moment to celebrate the journey taken, to formulate new intentions, values, and visions for the future, which increasingly materialize in conscious choices.

Since 2017, the brand has been committed to choices ranging from the responsible use of materials, technological research, investments in streamlining the production chain, and improving the quality of life of its artisans. The convergence between the well-being of the individual and the entire ecosystem that hosts them is at the center of the brand’s reflection.

Benefit Company & First Impact Report

Since December 2021, Visionnaire has been a Benefit Company, defining its business as a promoter of positive value for the community.
Benefit Companies are entities that, in addition to pursuing economic profit, aim to bring common benefit to the ecosystem in which they operate, making their activity a guide and engine of innovation.

IPE-Visionnaire intends to pursue, in the exercise of its economic activity, one or more positive effects - or to reduce negative effects - towards individuals, communities, territories, and the environment, cultural and social goods and activities, institutions, associations, and other stakeholders. These factors are part of the company’s mission: the objectives of common benefit are pursued in the conduct of business, in an integrated manner, and are included in its Articles of Incorporation to align and protect the mission in the medium and long term.

At the conclusion of these first two years as a Benefit Company, Visionnaire publishes its annual sustainability report and impact statement, a report that represents the story of the company’s journey and aspirations, as well as the steps already taken to enhance communities and safeguard our planet.

Visionnaire pavilion | Salone del Mobile.Milano 2024

The brand designs an organic, enveloping architecture where the geometry of edges gives way to soft volumes, corners transform into curves that embrace and soften daily living. The architecture displays continuous lines that draw arches and niches, wall thicknesses that give the spaces a mystical yet pragmatic atmosphere. The design follows low environmental impact principles, both in the construction of the architecture and in the definition of the interior spaces. For the stand, rental structures and materials are used, such as the supporting structure, aluminum platform, and its panels, the American structure, and all electrical equipment. Meanwhile, for the internal walls and ceilings, a new gypsum fiber material is used, consisting of panels made from 100% recycled gypsum, water, and cellulose, which are themselves 50% recyclable. Even for the wooden walls, panels made from 100% recycled and 70% recyclable chipboard are used.

ISO 20121 - Sustainability Certification

IPE-Visionnaire achieved ISO 20121 certification in order to make its events and exhibitions increasingly less impactful on the environment and territory, and to reduce energy and water consumption. The certification allows for shared and unified reference parameters, certifies that it is not greenwashing practices, and guides the event management system towards continuous improvement. It is an international standard that defines the requirements of an event sustainability management system and is based on established management system principles. The main foundational points are:

• Determination of sustainable development principles, i.e., ethical resource management, inclusivity, integrity, and transparency.
• Assessment of the significant impacts of the event in the three sustainability areas: social, environmental, and economic.
• Identification of targeted objectives and milestones for each significant aspect with a clear definition of actions, timelines, and resources required for their achievement, and the method of evaluating results.
• Definition of communication with stakeholders through a comprehensive specific plan for the entire event lifecycle.
• Organization of the supply chain with a sustainable perspective by incorporating parameters consistent with the defined principles and policy.
• Monitoring of performance, always with reference to the principles and policy adopted by the organization, and ensuring proper identification and management of lessons learned from previous events to benefit the design of subsequent ones.

Marchi Storici D’Italia

In 2023, IPE-Visionnaire became an associate member of the Marchi Storici D’Italia association. The association was established to promote the strategic importance of Italian historic brands at all levels and to drive them as levers of competitiveness and internationalization, contributing to enhancing the Italian image through the combined efforts of companies holding historic brands and competent public administrations.

Furthermore, it translates the diverse merchandise and organizational diversity of its member companies into a strength, highlighting their common heritage of knowledge and national excellence passed down through multiple entrepreneurial generations, and leveraging this diversity to find cross-cutting insights for business and reputation development.

Through its work, the association aims to enhance its members for the benefit of the Made in Italy system, raise awareness among companies about heritage and branding, and industrial historical heritage, promote the business culture of Italian Historic Brands as an intangible asset of the country, and also protect historic brands by promoting the use of new technologies to counter Italian sounding.

FSC™ C147146 & PEFC

Visionnaire renews its FSCTM C147146 Forest Stewardship council™ and PEFC Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification, certifications, obtained in 2019, in support of its commitment to the global goal of steering the market towards responsible forest management and ensuring that the woods used come from legal cuts and certified supply chains.

Starting from 2023, the brand introduces a selection of products that will be exclusively made with FSC™ C147146 Forest Stewardship Council™ certified woods, including the Aurora console, Ruben low table, and Jet Plane mirror by Steve Leung, Marty console, and low table by Marco Piva. This year, the product selection is expanded, introducing the Kerwan family consisting of indoor and outdoor dining tables and a coffee table version.

Visionnaire continues its commitment to safeguarding our natural heritage through increasingly direct and conscious choices, thereby shaping its cultural vision. Also, thanks to the choice of expressing the company’s strategic orientation through the declarations of intent contained in the Decalogue, the brand has outlined its course: the concept of products embodying absolute quality and responsible commitment to the environment. The brand is also ISO 9001 certified since 2011, ensuring compliance with quality management standards, as part of a broader project to develop and enhance Italian craftsmanship, which is based on the decision to produce entirely in Italy for sixty years.

Re-Generation: high-performance fabrics and leathers

The Re-Generation project - a sample book dedicated to fabrics and leathers that adhere to criteria of low environmental impact - is further expanded with Sean, a 100% ANIMAL FREE technical nubuck with unique characteristics. We are talking about a product distinguished by its softness and elasticity. Sean is known for its strong durability and is both eco-friendly and recyclable. Additionally, it is certified Oeko-Tex, as it is made without the use of toxic chemicals. It will be premiered at the upcoming Salone del Mobile.Milano on the Aubade bed by Alessandro La Spada.

Re-Generation contains a special selection of recycled, chemical-free, or animal-free materials, where each fabric or leather is accompanied by a technical data sheet containing details on composition, spinning, weaving, cultivation systems, and traceability, allowing insight into the product’s life cycle.

Among these is the Paddington fabric - an eco-fur made from recycled and recyclable PET - first presented on the Shibari armchair by Studiopepe and awarded the Archiproducts Design Awards 2023 for its concept and design. Furthermore, a dedicated jury of specialists in eco-design and sustainability awarded the Shibari armchair the Archiproducts Sustainability Award.

Paddings made with innovative processes

The commitment towards a more sustainable production development translates into the research of fillings made through alternative and less harmful processes for our planet. The new foams are obtained through the use of a new special polyol, synthesized using carbon dioxide. Indeed, it is an innovative raw material for the production of high-quality flexible polyurethane foams. Thanks to it, carbon dioxide is reintegrated into the production chain, thereby reducing the use of fossil raw materials such as petroleum, in respect and safeguarding of the environment. These new foams are characterized by excellent breathability and low permanent deformation, two essential elements in the creation of a new seating.

Furthermore, they also exhibit physical and mechanical characteristics equivalent to conventional foams. Visionnaire has introduced these new fillings in one of its iconic seats, the Ca’ Foscari sofa, by Alessandro La Spada. For its upholstery, a fabric with highly performing characteristics belonging to the Re-Generation sample book has been selected - a research project by the brand in which only materials that meet low environmental impact criteria are included and selected. The Ca’ Foscari sofa is also the winner of the Archiproducts Design Awards 2022 in the Sustainability category.

Marbles: Processing techniques and technological processes

For the brand, marble represents a fundamental natural element in its creations, and it is precisely for this reason that it is constantly engaged in researching new technologies to enhance it to the fullest. As in the Kerwan dining table by Alessandro La Spada, which stands out for a very important innovation characteristic: the curvature of the marble legs obtained from a slab by exploiting the elastic capacity of the stone, rather than being cut from a block, thus avoiding significant material waste.

The Cameron table, born from the design of Alessandro La Spada, features its sculptural base: achieved by the juxtaposition of two mirrored marble blocks, thus allowing for no material waste. Through this particular processing of marble from blocks, it is possible to obtain two perfectly symmetrical bases. The solidity of the stone and the void - emphasized by a curved material subtraction and a metal surface covering it - coexist within the structure.