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MASTERS TO WATCH: HANS FILIPPINI

Director of Marketing & Sales Operations at Leolux, Hans Filippini, tells MASTERS how he started at Leolux and about the company's craftsmanship. A family business where passion for craftsmanship, creativity and pride are paramount.Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer | Online Editor: Natasha Hendriks
Image: John van Helvert

Proud

Hans Filippini: "After a business education, I first did sales in the copying industry, then product management at a division of BNP Paribas and then set up my own lighting brand as an independent entrepreneur with two partners. Gradually I discovered that marketing is also my passion: how do you find the right consumer at the right time with the right message? When I came into contact with furniture manufacturer Leolux to do the marketing for them, I was quickly won over. Also because it is a company with a rich history and a Dutch product made by hand in Venlo. It's very much about aesthetics, quality and comfort. You really have a story, it's not a fake story that you throw over a product to make it prettier than it is. Moreover, Leolux is a family business - with the third generation at the helm since 2012 in the person of Sebastiaan Sanders - which has the advantage of looking at the long term. In the back of the management's mind, there are still small children walking around who will one day take over the company. On the shop floor, too, you find that familialism: many employees have been there from generation to generation; there is an atmosphere of pride. Other companies are more spreadsheet driven and opt for shareholder value. At a family business, decisions are made on a longer-term basis - that gives peace of mind."

Fantastic seating comfort

"Leolux focuses on furniture in and around the living and dining room. Think of a seating area with a coffee table, rug, pouf and cushions, where our core competence lies in upholstered seating. Leolux is distinguished by design, with its signature often rounded shapes, high detailing, quality workmanship and fantastic seating comfort. It is a rewarding product to do the marketing for. As a marketer now, you have to make sure that identity and image grow with the times. That is why we have invested in social media and online, among other things. Of course, customers can get inspired in our design centers in Utrecht and Eindhoven, but nowadays they can also get inspired digitally. All products can be configured behind a screen, giving no less than 30 billion options thanks to, among other things, a different stitching, the color of the feet, different combinations of materials and the various leathers. A wide selection, something for everyone. Looking for an eye-catcher for your interior, firm seating comfort or just a lounge sofa? It's all available in the collection. To keep the identity growing, we also started a collaboration with Studio Truly Truly of Joel and Kate Booy. They have a great vision on how to translate the brand to the consumer. As art directors of Leolux, among other things, they look with us at which designers suit us and also design products for our collection themselves. Leolux has a long history of original and daring designs with sparkling colors and expressive shapes. We build on this tradition, but nowadays not every piece of furniture has to be outspoken. There is now more room for nuance and detail."

Trends

Hans Filippini: "In the furniture industry, trends fortunately do not follow each other as quickly as in the fashion industry. Soft seating and a more casual look is really something of recent years, a sofa that invites you to live in it. The piece of furniture has taken on a different importance over time. The sofa used to face the television and was where you received guests. It has become much more of a place where you retreat with your iPad or cell phone - portable screens do something to our living environment. As for colors, combinations of softer tones or just stronger contrasts have become increasingly important. More and more consumers are putting something colorful on the wall and opting for a quiet piece of furniture, because it lasts a long time. This also marks the durability of our furniture. They pass from generation to generation, from living room to study. Because we are constantly reducing our carbon footprint, paying close attention to the production methods and materials we use and striving for as little waste as possible, we dare to claim that our furniture has a minimal impact on the environment. In this regard, Leolux already provides 67 percent of its own energy needs through solar panels and the use of ground heat."

Craftsmanship

"We have had an extraordinary year. We got off to a tremendously positive start, until we went whooping in March. We are a company focused on producing orders and delivering them directly to our dealers at home and abroad. When the first lockdown in Italy was announced, we immediately had all the stocks of materials that were there come to the Netherlands. So we had virtually no supply problems. Only we couldn't get rid of the finished products. We had to provide storage and literally had to rent a hall to facilitate that. Another problem was the 70 percent decrease in demand. We decided to close the plant for a week to make sure the work inventory remained at a controllable level. Then the moment started when people started investing very hard in their interiors, and that hasn't stopped. In the end, we had a fantastic year. We had months where we were more than 30 percent plus compared to normal. But we work with people who do handiwork. It's not like we just pluck someone off the street and ask them to upholster a Leolux piece of furniture - it's about craftsmanship. So the consumer has to be a little more patient. But he is then rewarded for that with craftsmanship." Hans Filippini

MASTERS #45

MASTERS #45