Although the design scene in Portugal is still in its infancy – having started less than two decades ago – the country has long been recognized for its savoir-faire in crafts like upholstery, carpentry, metalsmithing, casting, stonemasonry and gilding. And it is precisely these artisanal traditions that have partially helped it to recover from a deep recession after decades under a repressive regime, leading to a newfound enthusiasm in Portuguese design. The northern coastal city of Porto in particular has emerged as a creative powerhouse – referred to as Portugal’s furniture capital with its long tradition of furniture and textiles manufacturing – as new luxury Portuguese homeware brands have launched.
One female entrepreneur leading the charge in harnessing the power of local craftsmanship is Paula Sousa, 40, who was born post-dictatorship and consequently possesses a global outlook, intent on promoting the “Made in Portugal” label around the world. After studying at Porto’s College of Art and Design, the Porto native worked for Congiu, a design studio in Milan, and as an interior designer for seven years. Feeling there was a void in the market for contemporary, elegant, sculptural and emotion-evoking furniture inspired by the cinema and various artistic periods like mid-century modern or Art Deco, she founded Munna in 2008, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, followed by the nature-inspired Ginger & Jagger exploring different esthetics, techniques and materials four years later, and serves as the CEO and creative director of both brands.
Specialized in upholstered chairs, sofas, stools, tables and folding screens in a multitude of colors, Munna is based in Porto to be close to its artisans, as Sousa has always sought to champion and perpetuate Portugal’s rich crafts heritage and to honor her roots. Production is restricted to just over 1,000 pieces per year as all the furniture is handcrafted, and each piece takes up to eight weeks to manufacture rather than a more typical four weeks. The brand even invites Portuguese designers to reinvent existing creations as limited editions that are more creative and less commercial. “It’s not only about Paula, Munna or Ginger & Jagger,” Sousa notes. “It’s about Portuguese design and culture.”
Munna furniture is a showcase of Portuguese materials, especially high-quality textiles like velvet, leather and silk. It incorporates fine wood veneers such as ebony, walnut and rosewood and detailed plating in brass, nickel and copper combined with the application of gold, silver and copper leaf and premium lacquers. Munna has been pivotal in developing a new generation of artisans, working with local workshops where the craftsmen range in age from their 20s to their 60s, with trades passed down from one generation to the next. “What we need now in Portugal is to maintain culture, to keep traditions alive, and the artisans understand that production is culture,” Sousa states.
Critical success for Munna came in the form of the Becomes Me armchair, which took home the 2012 International Product Design Award, but the first piece to appear on the cover of a magazine was the Candy armchair in 2009. The Sophia armchair recently featured in the spy comedy Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and David Byrne and Jennifer Lopez are clients. Van Cleef & Arpels handpicked the Margaret armchair and sofa to embellish its flagship stores internationally, and Munna has collaborated with Parisian high-end furnishing fabrics brand Lelièvre and luxury fashion house Chloé.
Sousa may have started off working alone in a garage, but today she employs 17 staff, of which five compose her in-house design team. Present in over 50 markets worldwide and more than 100 residential, commercial and hospitality projects – including the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris, the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park and St. James Court Hotel in London and Le Royal Méridien in Abu Dhabi – Munna has showrooms in Saudi Arabia, Moscow, Istanbul and Miami. Its top three markets are the UK, France and Russia, and revenues achieved over €3 million last year, while Sousa continues to work hard to ensure the production of original, high-end Portuguese-made furniture that will last a lifetime.
Check back next week for Part 2 featuring a Q&A with Paula Sousa.
