group HISTORY Matteo Grassi with his son Attilio, 1927 The history of Matteograssi began in Mariano Comense, a small town located in a small area called Brianza, situated in Lombardy, a region of northern Italy, where the head of what was to become a dynasty of leather craftsmen opened a workshop in 1880. The sign over the entrance read “Saddlery”. Inside, the Grassi family – Matteo and his wife, and later on, his sons – would carefully craft articles made of coach hide, such as saddles, bridles, reins ad the full harness, which horses need to work and transport. At the time, the Brianza district was mostly a farming area, and the Grassi family business adapted to the needs of an agricultural economy in which the ability of the craftsman, and his skills in coming up with solutions, were the key to success. At the end of the Second World War, the family business took on a different character. Brianza The first item bearing the company’s name was the Korium armchair by Tito Agnoli, an immedia- started to become one of the liveliest industrial furniture areas in Italy, and the Grassi family te success that brought the creativity of this small,dynamic firm under the spotlight. Since then,- paid close attention to the changes that were occurring. From the 1950s to the ‘70s, thanks Matteograssi has enjoyed uninterrupted success and growth. After more than hundred years in to their lenghty experience crafting the saddlery, the family began producing coach hide com- business, its name is now found at international airports such as Dubai, Kiev, Rome, Paris, ponents for others companies and their many customers included almost all of the most cele- Athens, Beijing and Djakarta, amidst millions of people travelling daily. Although the old Saddlery brated names in furnishings. seems to have little in common with a company that is known the world over, there is a strong As this work was performed, contact was made on daily base with designers and architects bond between the two. That bond is coach hide itself... and much more. The 19th century farms who would follow the various steps in the production process. Thus, the family developed in Brianza and today’s futuristic airports in steel and glass are the production skills of craftsmen a passion for design, along with a special talent and style, which ultimately led to the decision who intelligentlylinked by follow changes in taste and in the economy adapting their knowledge to found the Matteograssi company in 1978 and create its own line of furnishings. and experience to the needs of the present. MATERIALS The quality of Matteograssi leather results from a careful selection of materials and a rigorous production process. It is produced from the hides of livestock raised only on European farms that provide the proper conditions for maintaining the skin perfectly intact. Processing begins in the tannery, where the salted hides arrive from the farm. Before it is cleaned, each hide is cut into the various sections - flank, shoulder and back - that will be used for different pro- ducts. Next come the cleaning procedures, which were once called “riviera operations” because they used to be performed along the banks of rivers. Today, the fur and the fatty components are removed by soaking the skins in large drums or tubs containing water, lime and sodium sulfide. In the cleaning bath, the volume of the hides increases. The extra thickness allows them to be “split” by a cutting operation that results in two layers with different characteristics: a valuable, extremely strong upper layer called the “grain”; and the bottom layer, which does not have surface marks and is known as the “split”. At this point, the hide is tanned with a treatment that greatly increases its useful life and provides it with specific qualities. The ingre- dients of the tanning bath (acids, salts, fats and oils) differ depending on whether soft leather or coach hide is to be produced. For a few days, the hides spin in drums full of water and tan- ning ingredients added in secret proportions. After tanning, processing continues with drying or “placing in the wind”. The hide then returns (for the third time) to the drums, this time for dyeing. Here,it is coloured with a solution of water and pure aniline that creates a clear coloration looking like waterco- lour. Next, the colour is made more uniform with manual “finishing”, and the hide is dried, stretched,and subjected to additional dry drumming to make it softer and bulkier. At this point, each Matteograssi hide is ready to be marked according to its properties.Matteograssi coach hide and soft leather are some of the highest quality materials available on the market, which is made possible by selecting the finest technologies, materials and craftsmen, and by employing costly, demanding processes that meet the consumer’s expectations, in the tradi- tion of fine leather craftsmanship. CRAFTSMANSHIP At Matteograssi, soft leather and coach hide are still processed almost completely by hand. Thus, on the shelves and work benches at the company, together with the latest modern equipment you can see the traditional tools employed by prece- ding generations in their work. Using these instruments, the hands of Matteograssi craftsmen repeat the exact same operations that were performed over a hundred years ago. At Matteograssi, the concept of an “assembly line” is still unknown, and the sophisticated computerized technologies that predominate in today’s industrial production are only used to perform a few proces- sing steps such as cutting and split- ting, since machines can carry out these operations more precisely and efficiently than people. Cutting and splitting are performed to shape the coach hide or soft leather into the form and thickness required by each piece. Pieces that require shaping Finally, the completed single are pre-moulded, while others are parts are assembled. Upon sewn, according to their design. completion, each product Next, the prepared pieces are fit receives a certificate signed onto the frame, which is the most by the “master saddler” which delicate and most important step certifies compliance with the in the entire production process. declared level of quality. In Then, the piece is finished in a 1994, Matteograssi became number of steps that include one of the first furnishing com- finishing the edges, which are cut, panies in Italy to obtain ISO smoothed, rounded, coloured and 9001 certification. polished. LATEST NEWS In 2016 CCM Srl acquired Matteograssi. The company is now part of the CCM group, the world leader in Airport Interior. In over thirty-five years of activity CCM has made over three hundred airports around the world, working with some of the most important architects and building upon their design of airport interiors to become the reference point of the market. Recently CCM expanded to include CCM-Technology, with the capacity and ability to integrate and coordinate the modern technology of Special IT Systems within the various aspects of CCM and its projects Matteograssi completes the group portfolio as the last piece of the mosaic. By gaining the experience and skills of Matteograssi in the furniture sector, CCM is today more and more general contractor, with a range of proposals from interior - design, standard and custom made furniture, turnkey management of projects across all aspects of public spaces. COLLECTION a selection of our products Metron Designers Carlo Bartoli Vela Medusa Cruise Stefano Bigi Piero Lissoni Wimbledon 2Leather Must L. Massoni Rodolfo Dordoni Esquire Tent G. Cazzaniga Zip Couch MG Wave Gordon Guillaumier Mizar Nashira Axis Patrick Jouin Leaf Matteo Nunziati Dalì Aretè / Nirvana KO Kunihide Oshinomi Loom / Openside Franco Poli Loomy,T-Net / Zoe 2Leather design Rodolfo Dordoni Upholstered polyurethane armchairs with high or low back and footrest covered with soft leather and enriched by a zipper surrounding the shell. Areté (Original Edition) design Franco Poli Armchair in coach hide cutted net. Chromium plated steel frame. Padding in high density flexible polyurethane foam. Seat in cold moulded rigid polyurethane foam. Chromium plated steel swivel base. Available in different versions. Areté design Franco Poli Low tables with soft leather or coach hide covered top and chrome plated steel base. Axis design Matteo Nunziati Low tables coach hide covered available with bar/bottle compartment. Cruise design Stefano Bigi Upholstered polyurethane armchairs with high or low back and footrest covered with soft leather or with armrest and backrest in coach hide and seat in soft leather. Dalì design Matteo Nunziati Low tables with soft leather or coach hide covered top. Esquire design L. Massoni - G. Cazzaniga Armchair and sofas upholstered and covered with soft leather. Kelly design Piero Lissoni Upholstered armchair and sofas covered with soft leather, with backrest and armrests coach hide covered. Chrome plated steel legs. KO design Kunihide Oshinomi Armchair and sofas upholstered and covered with soft leather with shell in aluminium. Leaf design Patrick Jouin Small armchair and lounge armchair upholstered and covered with soft leather or with external cover in coach-hide and internal cover in soft leather. Loom design Franco Poli Lounge chair in cutted net coach hide with polished stainless steel frame.. Loomy design Franco Poli Free standing screens in cutted net coach hide. Medusa design Piero Lissoni Upholstered armchair with low or high back covered with soft leather. Metron design Carlo Bartoli Series of tables and writing desks with glass or coach hide tops and legs covered in coach hide. MG design CRS Steel small armchairs with seat and back in coach hide.. Mizar design CRS Swivel office and directional armchairs in steel, shell covered with coach hide and cushions in soft leather. Must design Rodolfo Dordoni Series of tables / writing desks with chromed base available with or without panels.