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How Having a Baby
Inspired two Young Entrepreneurs
to Build a Global Furniture Brand
that is Sustainable.
“We were expecting our little baby,
and that changed everything.”
BY GERDA BREIDENBACH
14 FEBRUARY 2022
“The idea for the Biosofa was born when I was pregnant with our first child, Rafael." says Christine Sintermann, co-founder of Biosofa.
"He is ten now, so it’s a while ago, but I remember us sitting in our tiny Milano kitchen, pouring over designs for furniture.”
Family traditions
“My husband Davide comes from a family of 7 generations of carpenters and sofamakers.
At the time he was preparing to take over the family business from his dad and granddad, and he was disillusioned with the way the furniture and especially the sofas were being done then."
"Davide had taken courses in sustainability and lifecycle theories at university, but that passion had somehow always been a separate thing. Such a very Italian way of thinking." she smiles...
"Business was business, and theories were theories. So in the family workshops they continued to make chic Italian design sofas, with plastic and plywood and lots of petrol based foam, like everybody else."
And then it suddenly clicked.
"So we were sitting in the kitchen. It was summer, very warm and you could just hear the Milano traffic on the other side of the cobblestone courtyard."
"My belly was huge, and we were sort of mixing the discussion on the future of our children with our baby-name list and ideas for what kind of furniture we wanted to make. It was all on one big yellow sheet of paper that ended up on our fridge."
"And suddenly Davide looked up at me when I came back from what I felt was my fifth trip to the loo, and said “It’s gotta be sustainable. We have to work on something that will make our children not only proud, but also safe."
"And that was it. From that moment, no hesitations. We have been working hard and making it happen ever since."
Building a global brand
Fast forward 10 years, and the energy of that evening is still with them. Davides and Christines company Biosofa has become a force to reckon with on the furniture market, being the only ones who create 100% biodegradable sofas with no plastic at all in them.
Step by step Biosofa has grown into adding chairs, lighting and and accessories to their catalogue.
They have not only re-invented the way they produce, but they also teach in schools and universities. And around them, their suppliers are also changing the way they work and certify their materials in order to be able to be a part of their bio-family.
There are many movements right now that are on the way towards a sustainable and ethical future. People like Davide and Christine at Biosofa are the ones who project themselves into the unknown and develop fresh ideas on how we could live together.
Listen to your heart, and write it all down, you might just strike a spark of genius.
You can check out their collection here:
