A Look Into Oggetti Designs

Photography by Rodrigo Gaya on May 7th, 2014 in Editorials, Lifestyle

1-Gregory-Frehling

Greg Frehling

Miami, FL – May 1, 2014 – The Miami Design District is ever evolving and is always welcoming new assets. After ten years in the Design District, Oggetti Designs made the move to the heart of the area with a brand new showroom fit to display all of their modern offerings. With worldly influences and a passionate founding family, it’s no surprise that the Oggetti Design business has blossomed into the home furnishings staple that it is. As you stroll the atrium in the the 4141 building you can peer into the modern faced store and window shop for everything from furniture to lighting and accessories. We took a step inside to see for ourselves just everything this showroom has to offer.

2-DSC_2699

It all began in 1975 when Robert and Nancy Frehling purchased a local specialty store called Nessa Gaulois. What started off as one store eventually turned into six different locations, including one at the swanky Bal Harbour Shops. The stores mainly focused on tabletops and accessories for the home, but after traveling extensively throughout Italy the couple realized there was something more inspiring to this business. Together they fell in love with Venice and discovered some incredibly amazing Italian glassblowers. The artisans didn’t have any distributors in the United States at the time and it was this moment that initially inspired the concept for Oggetti; importing these amazing foreign lines and distributing them throughout the US. The business truly began to boom after an advertisement in Architectural Digest intrigued a major furniture manufacturer in the Philippines. The manufacturer approached the Frehlings and asked that they visit the Philippines to exhibit their products. The trip sealed the deal and they have been working hand in hand ever since.

Oggetti represents a lifestyle, with home items ranging from furniture to lighting and accessories from around the world. One aspect of the business that has remained the same is that they like to keep it in the family. Robert and Nancy’s daughter Jennifer operated the original Oggetti location that opened in the Design District in 2003. She built Oggetti into a lifestyle store, carrying a wide variety of well-designed products from numerous companies. Once the success of the business continued to progress, Oggetti began to evolve their own furniture line that they created with the manufacturer in the Philippines with the help of the Frehling’s son, Greg. The collection has grown to include a range of materials such as wood, shagreen, and lacquer. Working with small ateliers, Oggetti has developed its own unique style.

3-DSC_2652

With so much growth and success over the years, the Frehlings decided to relocate Oggetti Designs. A perfect fit for the store, the 4141 building is modern and features raw, exposed concrete, natural light and open ceilings. “The building’s elements give our line a new and fresh presentation,” says Greg Frehling, “My idea for the space is to show each piece as an art piece, more like a gallery setting than a typical furniture showroom with vignettes of different living rooms cluttered together.” The pedestals within the space feature individual pieces in the window so each piece is given a spotlight. With glass shelving displays, LED lighting and staging to add striking visual elements, the store is more impressive than ever.

Though the space may be smaller than the former Oggetti store, it allows for much more emphasis on the Oggetti furniture line. The main focus of the store is to be different and stand out. Oggetti is not your typical furniture store. “When design becomes too common, it looses its cache,” said Greg Frehling. Oggetti’s main goal is to present conversation pieces and unusual objects that people have never seen anywhere else. While still paying careful attention to the market and what is selling, Oggetti skirts on the edge, consistently making and providing pieces that defy the “traditional” look of a house.

4-DSC_2638

Aside from carrying their own line, which they still import from the same island in the Philippines 30 years later, Oggetti carries some exquisite big name brands. A store favorite is Borowski, which is a more whimsical line of hand blown glass and metal that is perfect for outdoor garden sculptures and indoor accessories. The store also carries items by Alexandra Von Furstenberg, a modern line of colorful acrylic pieces such as boxes, trays, and ashtrays in which Frehling explains is a very hot item right now for designers. They also carry a luxurious line of pillows from Ankasa and Rani Arbella as well as sofas from Dellarobbia and Planum. When asked what his favorite piece is in the store right now, Frehling said, “The Geo cocktail table by Vito Selma. It reminds me a lot of the work of architect Santiago Calatrava. The Table uses linear pieces yet it looks like it is bending and oscillating.”

Oggetti is consistently pushing the limits in interior design, creating not just a contemporary room, but also an entire home with killer style and appeal. The unique and distinct choice of pieces and collections that Oggetti carries are what make it stand out from the rest. Family owned and operated, their culturally savvy designs have interior decorators and home owners from all over wanting a piece of the action.

4.5-DSC_2646

From left to right: “Pink Birds” by Paule Marrot (reproduction); Copper River Bottles collection (photographs of found bottles in the Copper River in Alaska. Bottles between 200-300 years old); “Teal Beads” by Paule Marrot (reproduction); Turot Geometric collection (originally a Swedish educational aid). Zig Zag and Giza consoles and Fleur dining table by Oggetti.

4.6-DSC_2575