Creative Process
Would you like to know more about our creative process? We thought we’d share a little bit about how a design goes from initial sketch to fully realised design piece. Let’s start at the beginning…
Each year, we design fresh pieces that bring something new to our collection of quality-led furniture but also fit seamlessly with FRATO’s signature international aesthetic. It all begins with our Creative Director, who draws on wide-ranging research and briefs our design team on the key inspirations and moods of the upcoming season. They then get to work, creating sketches and moodboards, experimenting with different finishes, measurements and material blends until their ideas begin to take form. Of course, the length of this process varies from design to design: some pieces take shape instantly while others require more finessing.
Working from an approved sketch, our master craftsmen get busy creating a prototype. This is when we finalise exact measurements, ensuring a piece is perfectly stable and balanced, and refine the signature material mix to ensure our trademark flawless finish. Once everything is working perfectly, the designers capture the final idea in a full-colour sketch, which brings the piece to life before it is put into production.
Each fresh design is then styled with other pieces (both new and established) and photographed as part of our annual lookbook. It’s then exhibited at trade shows such as Milan’s Salone del Mobile and Paris’s Maison & Objet, displayed globally in our stores and included in the larger concept stories that feature across our website and socials, often customised to inspire you to create your perfect version.
And that’s how a FRATO piece goes from the drawing board to finished design, ready to elevate your interior and your lifestyle.