Timeless commitment to design and innovation
Interview with Alex Alorda… vice president of KETTAL
A pacesetting Spanish designer and manufacturer of enduring outdoor furniture, Kettal outlets around the world (including Marbella) offer a fully integrated and personalised decoration service.
When was Kettal set up and by whom?
Kettal S.A., a family company, was founded by D. Manuel Alorda in 1966 as a distributor of imported garden furniture. Kettal subsequently began manufacturing its own furniture, becoming a pioneer at the time in the design and manufacture of this kind of furniture. Kettal has always been interested in design. Since its beginnings, the company has had an international outlook, with a firm and ongoing commitment to design and innovation
What are the basic principles behind Kettal?
As a family company, the same initial values remain relevant today, family values such as a work culture, respect and common sense, making decisions for the medium and long-term, the company’s commitment to clients…
What are Kettal’s main inspirations?
Kettal’s objective is to create timeless, functional and expressive furniture, representative of contemporary culture and answering the new requirements of current lifestyles, based on a mix of creativity, personalisation, innovation and modern production.
Kettal design is orientated towards structuring and shaping the ingredients to facilitate the creation of functional objects that satisfy the true needs of users. Kettal products are designed and manufactured with the idea of enduring over time.
The importance of research, both scientific and technological, has always been a key aspect in the development of our products – and the brand’s highly innovative nature – enabling people to enjoy a high-quality product.
Kettal is constantly researching new materials for the outdoors, including new treatments for traditional materials.
What are the latest trends in outdoor furniture?
We try to avoid being “in fashion”, but we see that new projects are featuring a return to natural materials, the basic ones… metal, wood, stone, rope…
Kettal collaborates with important designers. Tell us more about these collaborations.
In 2006 we began working with Patricia Urquiola, who created the Kettal Maia collection, later chosen by Javier Mariscal for the Bombay Sapphire exhibition – one of the most iconic objects of the past 50 years, together with others such as the Vespa, iPod… This collection reinvented outdoor furniture, through a new braiding process, giving it an energetic and tri-dimensional aspect. Patricia provided our catalogue with a new era of garden furniture.
After Patricia, who has now created three collections for Kettal, we have added national and international designers of great prestige to our catalogue, including Hella Jongerius, Emiliana Design Studio, Rodolfo Dordoni and Jasper Morrison, who has designed two collections for Kettal.
It is very important for us that the designers share our company’s values.
Kettal Park collection by Jasper Morrison
