Fabienne Cosulich on Embracing Italian Craftsmanship

Thank you so much, Laura. Yes, my name is Fabienne Cosulich and I’m very pleased as well to share this conversation with you.

Yes, so my blood is 100 % Italian. My parents were both from Bologna, but I was born in Paris. At that time, my father was a product designer. My father was working for Philips and Kruending. And so I’m born in Paris and I was brought up bilingual. My school education has been French.

but at home it was Italian and excellent food, tortellini, tagliatelle, every day. also because cooking has always been a very important trait for the women in my family. To the point that I have a cuisine we opened two restaurants in Chicago.

She left Chicago now to be back in Italy because she has retired. But cooking has always been very important for women. so we were required to be excellent cook. Otherwise, we were not up to being called in the family reunions.

Yes, so our brand is Italian and we focus on the artistry and craftsmanship of the Italian culture. We sell furniture, lighting, and art accessories. 90 % I mean 100 % European and 90 % Italian. And we cover the three areas of the market. Antiques, made of 20th century design. And also we have a contemporary customizable collection. That really now

is one of our major success. And our mission as a brand, our mission is to support a small art studio and artisan in Italy with a mission to preserve the heritage of Italian excellence in creating artistic and functional pieces.

Well, my profession originally was a congress interpreter in simultaneous translations. But my father, being also an inventor, was patented his designs, so he needed the pattern to be translated in different languages. So he asked me to do that for him, and that’s why I worked closely with him for this translation, but also acquiring a lot of knowledge about design and also about technicalities and constructions because you know a patent is not only, I mean at that time it was not just copyright, it was also the way that things were constructed. And so when I met my husband, who is the founder of the company and who asked me if I could help a little bit, is a true antique dealer. That’s his background.

So he asked me to help and also my mother worked in Paris for American antique dealers. So I knew places where she used to go to buy, so I took him there. And a little at a time, he I’m going to do this, I’m just going to see if my father is an expert to include the Italian design of the 60s and 70s in the inventory. And because it’s also my passion, I lived in Milan in the 60s and 70s. So it was a very, very special time. Innovation everywhere, creativity from all sides.So, then my husband said, okay, let’s open a shop in the States, but you will have to work with me full time. And I said, well, yes, okay, why not?

Well, we are not the usual retail store because really, yes, we sell furniture, lighting, decorative items for the home, so we are retailers, but really, our goal is more to sell beauty and art. So our showroom also represents this goal to bring beauty and art in the home of our customer. Well, it’s also, we have 40 years of experience. It’s 40 years that we are in the market, so we can really offer not only an experience but a knowledge, a background that I think is interesting. I believe that What differentiates us is also because every piece that we have is an individual work of art and we do not operate out of catalogues and in mass production or factory assembled pieces.

Every piece is individually crafted and entirely handmade in Italy. Our vintage pieces also come directly from Europe. Then another distinction I think is the customer service. For me, the customer has centre stage and for me It’s very important to put myself in the shoes of my clients so that not only I understand exactly what they need, but I treat them in the same way that I would like somebody to advise me about a piece to live with. Because I don’t want to just sell a piece, I really want to bring beauty, artistry and sophistication to an interior and joy. Most of all, I want to give joy to my customers. And we have again that bad noise. Even I have turned off completely my air conditioning, but it doesn’t seem to be that problem. I don’t know why, but anyway.

And also, I think what is important is that even as a co-owner, I am always in the front line and I relate directly with my customer and my audience. Again, because I really care for the result and how my clients will feel.

Well, I must say that as an Italian brand, I had to learn contrary to the belief of my father, who was a very successful designer and who was in the same league as Aldo Tura, Gino Sarfatti, and he used to work with them as well. But at that time in Italy, marketing was considered like, not a genuine tool. So I learned in a different way that marketing is a very useful tool. But one of our marketing strategies is based on the truth. I think that’s where I respected the value of my father, who was afraid of marketing just because at that time in Italy it was more seen as a dramatisation. But I think that also something that has been very important is that coming here to the state, I’ve always wanted an in-house marketing. I’ve never outsourced my marketing. I’ve always had somebody here full -time with me able to not only to be a part of the team, but also to be ingrained in our culture in order to understand the Italian nation as well, and then being able to relate our value, our passion, because our marketing is not just about products but it’s also about what we are interested in, what we value. And in fact, if you go on our social channels, it’s not only about products. But I think that these for our company has been useful because it’s important for us also not just to be a retailer, but also to give content about history, about growth, about caring and about values.

Well, of course, mean, growth is a granted word, right? But we’ve always been distinguished by being always up to date and always ahead of the times. And I think that a lot of people recognize us for that. For example, when COVID arrived, we already had an e -commerce, while a lot of our competitors had only regular websites. So we always pick up the challenges of the present. But really now that, I mean, 40 years on the business,

It’s really a nice package. I would love to be able to find a partner in order to see what we have built here in the state. Carried on because most of all coming from Europe also, you bring something different and you also take the best of this environment and as I said, this market taught me a lot also about marketing, about product. So the USA market was very valuable as well from the point of view of knowledge. But all of that knowledge management, all that data, I would love to see it carrying on.

It’s been a pleasure, Laura, and you are a delightful person. It’s been very rewarding to hear your question as well and to share this with you. And the same here. I wish you success in your marketing endeavours and also you help other businesses.

with ideas about marketing and this is very important

Laura, my pleasure anytime and all the best. Ciao ciao, grazie. Ciao ciao.