BUSNELLI
HAS BEATEN ITS TIME
The 1950s marked a period of profound transformation for Italian industry, called upon to respond to the growing demand for houses and furniture in post-war Italy.
It was a tough but enthusiastic decade for the industry, which, after having had to stop its economic expansion, is now more active and proactive than ever.
The history of the Busnelli Industrial Group began in 1953 in Meda, in the heart of the furniture-making Brianza region, at a time in history when people were rushing to make up for lost time and satisfy the growing desire to own everything they had been forced to give up.
Busnelli began his journey with clear ideas and the ambition to win over a public eager to bring into their homes, not just a sofa, but that sense of carefreeness and freedom that had been missing for so long.
A DREAM AHEAD
This is no time for compromise: the goal is clear, now is the time for new ways of doing things. Having soon abandoned the traditional artisan structure, Busnelli embarked on an operation that led to profound changes in his production methods and in the Italians’ ways of living and dwelling.
Busnelli production embarks on a new path between design and planning, showing a growing interest in the use of new technologies and new materials. Completely new products enter the homes of Italians that satisfy emotional needs even before they are functional.
RELAXY
A PROMISE MADE SOFA
A sofa that allowed as many as 40 different positions had never been seen: head down and feet up, chest and knees up and everything else down, and even vice versa.
With less than one hundred thousand lire in the 1960s, Busnelli brings forty different ways of reading, sleeping, chatting and thinking into the living room. The ideas and skills that produced those forty movements, those mechanisms, have brought them to this day.
MARKETING.
THE KEY TO OPENING NEW SCENARIOS.
Busnelli knows where it wants to go, but it wants to meet those who can understand its ideas. It is a matter of identifying market segments, consumers immediately available for purchase and potential consumers. It is time to discover new areas of consumption, understand trends and needs. Italian design is entering a phase of maturity.
Busnelli devotes great attention to the study of marketing and communication strategies: catalogues, advertising, carousels, silver branding and fittings are the tools it chooses to use to convey and strengthen its corporate image.
THE ICONS.
DESIGN MARKS ITS TIME
Libro, Fiocco and other iconic products found great coverage in the specialised magazines of the time, while their communication was entrusted to well-known faces from sport and show business. Everything contributes to making Busnelli products objects of desire that transcend styles, tastes and times. And they keep doing it.
IDEAS AND CULTURE.
NEW OPENINGS TO THE WORLD.
In 1972 a brand-new factory opens in Misinto, expressing a profound technological evolution for the furniture and interior design industries.
These are fruitful years of initiative and tireless scientific research leading up to the establishment of a dedicated division: the Busnelli Study and Research Centre, a permanent training ground for ideas and experimentation.
CALEIDOSCOPIO
Caleidoscopio, Busnelli’s house organ, is founded in september 1965 and quickly becomes an editorial initiative, a source of inspiration and ideas on culture and society.
Caleidoscopio breaks out of its box to become an image-building tool and symbol of cultural debate. At a time of profound change in economic and production processes, the magazine’s aim is to connect the industrial world with the new realities of mass society.
WEDO Holding acquired Busnelli in 2021 to relaunch the brand and continue a history of design and Italian character that began 70 years ago.
The WEDO group today consists of 10 companies operating in the home, office and community sectors through branding policies and strategies in target markets. The companies all have a great manufacturing tradition, have advanced production facilities and high value-added logistics.