As a fresh name at the Independent Hotel Show this year, the Agentia UK team is looking to make a big impact. Given the combined heritage, quality and aesthetic of the products it will exhibit, however, it is unlikely that stand 273 won’t be drawing in the crowds …
Agentia UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harlequin London – a specialist in the supply of tableware, decorative accessories and lighting to the luxury interiors industry.
Created in the summer of 2012, Agentia UK was designed to focus on the promotion of exclusive luxury European brands into the UK wholesale market, and now acts as the exclusive UK”agent for five top brands: Christofle, GIOBAGNARA (formerly known as B.Home Interiors), Legle, Saint-Louis and Zanetto.
Ideally suited to luxury hospitality environments, Agentia UK’s brands represent a passion, both past and present, for craftsmanship, and the joy that can be sought from the objects we surround ourself with.
“We are very excited to be exhibiting at The Independent Hotel Show this year,” says Jamie Horton, founder of Harlequin London. “We relish the opportunity to meet potential clients and showcase the very best in luxury tableware, decorative accessories and lighting. We do hope that you will visit us at stand 273.”
Ahead of the show, we take a quick look at the story behind these five distinct brands …
Christofle
Founded in 1830, Christofle has mastered the art of working with silver, finding that sweet spot between shine and ostentation, intelligence and pretence, versatility and sincerity.
The silversmith’s mastery – concentrated in its factory in Yainville, Normandy – guarantees that Christofle products meet the highest standards of quality.
From Italian architect, Gio Ponti, to the Danish visual artist Christian Fjerdingstad, or more recently the designer Martin Szekely, artist Michele Oka Doner and French designers Andrée Putman and Ora Ito – some of the industry’s most affluent figures have participated in the stylistic renewal of the brand’s fine silver collection.
Through its creations, whether its products are intended for the tables of an Emperor, the Orient Express, transatlantic steamers or contemporary interiors, Christofle offers a highly personal take on art de vivre, the art of living.
GIOBAGNARA
Founded in 1999 by Giorgio Bagnara, GIOBAGNARA crafts luxury furnishings using quality leathers sourced from the fashion world.
Today, GIOBAGNARA produces more than 500 items in 70 types of leather and colour schemes, as well as making bespoke items on request. Having evolved from a family tradition that, since 1939, has been active in the research and sale of elegant decorative objects, the workshop’s success is based on a thorough and learned study that combines a passion for the handmade with technical know-how.
The ability to reinvent each piece’s dimensions, materials and colour scheme has resulted in an eclecticism that responds to the needs of a cosmopolitan clientele. Such an approach has earned the company praise from leading international retailers of home furnishings, tableware and jewellery, as well as from designers of boutique hotels and yachts.
Excellence, open-mindedness, passion and constant research are what carry GIOBAGNARA forward as it continues its unceasing evolution.
Legle
Legle is the legacy of five generations of Limoges-based porcelain-makers who have dedicated over 150 years to developing an exclusive and high quality product range.
At the end of the 19th century, Frédéric Lebouc’s great-great grandmother, Marie-Olympe Brière, produced objects that were mostly for everyday use in a workshop in Limoges. She took the forward-thinking decision to send her son, Frédéric Legrand, to study in England, and on his return to Limoges in 1904, he founded “Legrand et Cie” – a porcelain business that he ran successfully until he left for the front line.
Upon returning from the First World War he diversified into electrical accessories, as porcelain was, at the time, the most widely-used electrical insulator. His daughter, Paule Legrand, married André Lebouc – an engineer from the Arts & Métiers institution in Paris who ran Legrand until its closure during the Second World War.
In 1949, André Lebouc and his son Hugues, opened the Poral factory, a test porcelain factory that was ground-breaking as much in its modern manufacturing processes as its avant-garde labour conditions. It was the first factory to open after the war, and was inaugurated by high-ranking officials. It was also the first business of its kind to receive public/private financial support.
At the end of 1953, André and Hugues Lebouc created the porcelain decoration company Legle, and in 1963, the porcelain tile company ‘Les Carreaux de Limoges’. Hugues Lebouc, who was both pioneering and a visionary, went on to refine porcelain decoration techniques adapting the most modern processes. Frédéric, son of Hugues and grandson of André Lebouc, took the helm after the death of his father in 2000.
Just as in Marie-Olympe’s workshop all those years ago, the extremely skilled craftsmen at Legle continue to seduce materials and colours. Ceramic artists and glaziers work with the same meticulousness, perpetuating prestigious craftsmanship.
Saint-Louis
This premier French crystal manufacturer was established in the 18th century, and in fact the formula for producing crystal glass was discovered by François de Beaufort, director of the Verreries Royales de Saint-Louis in 1782.
From the early 19th century onwards, Saint-Louis devoted its entire production to crystal, and began to revive skills dating back to Bohemian and Murano glassmaking.
Mechanical and chemical techniques such as wheel-cutting, acid-etching and gilding lent Saint-Louis craftsmen and artists the tools with which they would create the finest crystal services, vases and candelabras. Saint-Louis crystal was respected and valued throughout the world, admired in upper-middle-class dining rooms and imperial palaces, in the privacy of bedrooms and at presidential banquets alike.
To this day, Saint-Louis is still producing the very finest products, handmade at its factory in the Alsace region. Besides well-known glassware, and paperweights, Saint-Louis also produces vases, crystal glass accessories as well as mouth-blown chandeliers and glass-art installations.
Zanetto
Zanetto was founded in 1963 by Bernardo Zanetto who, since childhood, had shown an uncommon interest in the working of precious metals.
After an initial period of producing classic Venetian silverware, Bernardo allowed himself free creative reign and – thanks also to collaborations with a number of artists – this led to the development and production of avant-garde and designer articles, as well as experimentation with metals other than silver.
In 1983, animated by the same strong passion, Bernardo’s 20-year-old son Enrico entered the company, bringing with him new ideas and enthusiasm. He soon realised that the design value and product quality were not supported by an efficient sales network, and in 1984 distribution on the Italian market was assigned to B. Morone – one of the most prestigious Italian representative companies – enabling Zanetto to enter the top sales outlets in this sector.
In 1993 the company decided to open up to an international public, and attended the international trade fair in Frankfurt. The response was immensely positive and in only a few years Zanetto could count on a large number of already fond admirers of their creations.
With international status came a new approach for Enrico and Bernardo Zanetto, signified by the unique Africa collection – presented in 1999 – which was met with immediate acclaim from critics and the international public.
Today the workshop employs around 15 workers internally, backed up by around 10 external collaborators, all of whom have undergone a period of training and apprenticeship for well over five years. The production philosophy adopted by Zanetto is the consistent upkeep of handicraft features, convinced that hand working is the only and absolute guarantee to achieve optimal quality and originality in their products.
