88Tile International 2/2017

GS Luxury Group’s close collabo-ration with Ducati Motor, present-ed on 20 September at a press conference held specifically for the purpose at the world-class motorcycling brand’s Borgo Pan-igale headquarters, is one of the big news stories of Cersaie 2017.

It follows in the footsteps of the partnership forged by GS Luxury Group with Lamborghini in 2014, but what does this latest collabo-ration actually consist of? To answer to this question, we spoke to Giuseppe Pozzi, head of GS Luxury Group SpA: “As in 2014, when GS announced its collabo-ration with Lamborghini, we’re us-ing Cersaie 2017 to present our first four series of porcelain floor and wall tiles dedicated to the world of Ducati. Fast, dynamic, high-tech and smart, these tile collections are designed to rep-

resent “the Reds”. The tile divi-sion’s brand will be coupled with Ducati’s famous shield logo, un-derscored by the slogan WIN-NING TILE.”

The aesthetic of the four Duca-ti series draws direct inspiration from the materials used and the places typically frequented by the Reds of Borgo Panigale: some of these gres porcelain tiles replicate the appearance and reflectivity of metal, and fea-ture an embossed pattern (size 75x75 cm series), while others graphically represent the con-crete flooring of the workshops (size 60x120 cm series) marked with tyre tracks. The two series of wall tiles are equally interest-ing, with one drawing inspiration from glass brick and the other featuring a distinctive triangular shape (20x20 cm).

In the spotlight

GS Luxury Group partners up with Ducati Motor

Giuseppe Pozzi

In the spotlight

Tile International 2/201789

Kaleido, grey

90Tile International 2/2017

In the spotlight

So how did this collaboration with Ducati – perhaps one of the world’s most famous mo-torcycling brands – get un-der way? “We offered our services to Ducati for the design of the floor and wall tiling of its Food Factory and Ducati Caffè line, which the world cham-pion motorcycling brand is rolling out worldwide. The first branch, which opened in Bo-logna in January and was designed by the architect Gi-acomo Migliori of Sviluppi Ur-bani, is dedicated to the leg-endary Scrambler, a model that first saw the light of day in the United States in the 1970s, and became such a suc-cess on the world stage that it came back into production in 2015. The idea that prompt-ed the Reds to venture into

the restaurant business forms part of a wider project aimed at opening chains of Ducati Caffès in the Middle East, Far East and United States.”

So these collections are ex-plicitly dedicated to Duca-ti and the world of Duca-ti, but are they designed for use in different locations too? “Definitely. The Ducati collec-tions evoke the world of per-formance, so they’re more youthful and higher-tech than the Tonino Lamborghi-ni collections, which are in-extricably linked with luxury. They’re aimed at different tar-get markets too: the Russian and Chinese markets are the biggest buyers of the Lam-borghini brand, whereas for Ducati we’re expecting a lot of interest from Europe and

North America.”

How will they be distributed? “While the Tonino Lamborghi-ni Tiles&Style brand is sold through the dedicated Toni-no Lamborghini Home chan-nel, which is an all-round living system, the Ducati col-lections of floor and wall tiles will be made available to a wider public through shop-in-shops set up on the prem-ises of major retailers in Ita-ly, Europe and the USA. While Lamborghini represents the pinnacle of exclusive luxury, which is reflected in the spe-cific nature of the distribution channel, Ducati represents speed and technology, which is replicated in the incredible speed of communication of all news via our social media channels.”

The Group’s stand at Cer-saie will obviously be pay-ing tribute to both of these distinct spirits. “At Cersaie, we have one stand – B71 – dedicated to Ducati, with a lot of bikes on display for the delectation of motorcycling fans, and another stand – A71 – dedicated to the Toni-no Lamborghini Tiles&Style brand. In this area, you’ll be able to charge your smart-phone by simply placing it on Wi-Tiles – the innovative tile containing an induction charger that can be used for charging mobile phones and other electronic devic-es – developed in partner-ship with EGGTRONIC En-gineering to meet growing market demand for innova-tion.”

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In the spotlight

Tile International 2/201791

Kaleido, metal

cm 20x20 "Ducati" pattern