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A 100 percent handmade production that boasts imitations all over the world: this is the “chiavarina chair”. The classic one with a straw seat. Declined in hundreds of thousands of versions, it is a true design object. It weighs less than two kilos and, in the Levaggi brothers’ workshop, young carpenters make its skeleton. Only the stuffing of the seat does not take place here, but is entrusted to the hands of the straw-roller, with a kind of Smart Working ante litteram: the skeletons are in fact taken to their homes. And it is from there that, after eight hours of work for a single seat, the famous “chiavarina chair” comes out F.lli Levaggi is featured in CNA Storie of the Month. “In the early 1800s there was no concept of a chair that was so light, but at the same time sturdy and resistant,” explains Paolo Levaggi, 48. With his brother Gabriele, who is 46, he carries on the tradition inaugurated by his father. “After two centuries, this chair remains unsurpassed in performance,” says Paolo proudly.
Shoulder to shoulder with architects and designers
Paolo and Gabriele belong to the second generation of the historic company, known precisely for the production of “chiavarine chairs”. Behind the showroom door is the workshop, where they make them entirely by hand. “We manage to tailor a chair to the needs of its decorator,” explains Paolo. “The “chiavarina chair” has evolved over time and today adapts to a wide variety of furniture styles. It remains unchanged in structure and sturdiness, and we decline it as needed in shape and design,” he explains. “We work a lot with architects and design firms who appreciate that they can customize it. No chair is as customizable as the chiavarina chair.”
We can tailor a chair to the needs of its interior designer
The competition is not scary
The “chiavarina chair” has always been imitated: Chinese clones are populating the market, aping the original. But to Paul, the phenomenon does not worry: “we are on such a distant quality level that our market is not compromised by these imitations.” After all, the raw material used is the result of research and selection. “We have a very rich region in terms of forestry,” says Paolo. Much of the wood comes from our mountains. The seasoning is natural and provides greater strength and durability than chairs made with woods that undergo forced drying.” Paolo and Gabriele study in detail and choose each piece, “in our business we make many elements and each element has different thicknesses and characteristics. It may happen that in the market we do not find wood with the characteristics we are looking for, and then we give directions to those who prepare to cut it according to what we need.” The only raw material not to come from the local area is the one used for seating: Indonesian rush. “It has replaced willow since the early 20th century. It has the characteristics of typical Viennese chairs. At less than a millimeter it has extreme strength and contributes to the tightness of the chair,” explains Paul.
The straw-roller at home
Skeletons are made in the workshop, while the seating is entrusted to the hands of the straw-roller. “Chiavari chair stuffing is the flagship,” says Paolo proudly. “It is an entirely artisanal process. It requires expertise: it takes more than eight hours to make a chair.” That requires precision, patience, and craftsmanship. Highly specialized labor relies on the skill of the strawmakers, “They are very good and they handle the work at home.” An all-female job that, like all handicrafts, is full of pitfalls: “When someone offers to learn, we pair them with an already experienced strawmaker. But finding new recruits to train to ensure turnover is always a challenge.”
Finding new levers to train to ensure turnover is always a challenge
Young people’s passion for the craft
An all-around challenge, although eight young men work for Levaggi Brothers. The youngest, Klajdi, is 18 years old. “It’s always the hardest part to find good people who are passionate about the trade,” explains Paolo. We have a carpentry school nearby, and when we see some particularly motivated young people, a working relationship can develop. But there are fewer and fewer people enrolled, because carpentry is unfairly considered an unattractive trade. We should work at the training level to bring young people closer to these realities, which require manual labor.”
The support of CNA
Thanks to CNA, Paolo and Gabriele have been able to participate in important trade fairs, which remain a valuable channel for a 100 percent made in Italy product that is known all over the world. “For us, the most important market remains Italy, where chair is best known and appreciated, but we have also opened ourselves up a lot to export: abroad we work with realities of great value. Thanks to CNA we have participated in important international fairs. It is an important support, because small craft realities do not have the human and material forces to deal with important organizational efforts. The association, in this sense, can act as an incubator for small realities that can thus have more chances to present products in the foreign market,” Paolo explains.
“we have tried to put tradition and artisanal knowledge side by side with the latest technology
Sostenibility and innovation, the drivers for looking to the future
Paolo and Gabriele pay special attention to sustainability and innovation, knowing that even exclusively artisanal processes can find valuable support in automation. “We care a great deal about the conscious and responsible use of resources, so much so that we focus on careful processing to optimize waste: even from the smallest you can pull out a chair component. We do this believing in it a lot, while being aware that it would cost less to work on virgin board!” notes Paolo. And then there is innovation: “we have tried to combine tradition and artisan knowledge with the latest technology, buying a machine for hole-making and milling operations, with excellent results in terms of precision. Done by hand they can be tiring, and by freeing them from these operations our guys can focus on finishing aspects: crucial to the quality of the finished product.” This is how the machine can be a valuable ally to manual work, without replacing it. But rather by freeing up space for creativity.
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