Flou believes that designing spaces as a whole is where the art of living takes shape.
“I would like our client to remember that Flou helped them enjoy life,” says Flou owner and president Massimiliano Messina during an intimate gathering at the showroom of their exclusive Philippine distributor, Abitare Internazionale.
Flou’s story began with Massimiliano’s father, Rosario Messina, whose belief was both poetic and practical: the bed is where life begins. It was this belief that led to the creation of Nathalie, the world’s first fully padded textile bed designed with the legendary Vico Magistretti. Nearly fifty years later, it remains an icon, transforming how the world thought about sleep, softness, and sanctuary.
“We are Sicilians,” Massimiliano says with a smile. “We do care about families. This attitude, this mindset, helps us provide what the client needs. When we think about the product, we think about the family.”
That approach has guided Flou’s evolution: quietly, deliberately, and always with the human experience at the center.
This closeness to the family also resonates with Abitare Internazionale’s Filaine Tan and Jeanne Wee, who believe that beds are not mere furniture that occupy space, but are the places where dreams are launched, and where we recover from the world.
As the most intimate piece of furniture we own, Flou beds are customizable down to the last detail, from the textile and padded headboards to the mattresses’ rigidity, thickness, and storage options, bases, duvets, and pillows. There is even a couture-like, made-to-measure mattress system named Leonardo—all 100% exclusively made in Italy.
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From sleep to waking moments
It wasn’t long before clients requested to carry the same feeling and atmosphere in the bedroom into their own living and dining rooms, and other places in the house, even the outdoors.
“There was no moment when we decided to take care of other furniture,” Massimiliano explained. “Clients loved the bed, and they wanted the same atmosphere in the living room. The tricky thing was doing something unique.”
This natural progression emerged as the company steadily expanded its collections, designing spaces where warmth and emotion take shape. “We asked ourselves a simple but important question: what is true now, what do people really need?” Messina says, emphasizing Flou’s timely new signature: “Designing the art of living.” This philosophy permeates the brand’s latest collections, encouraging a warmer, more emotive, and more meaningful way of living for families everywhere.
“The word family is something that we really think about. We like to treat our business like a family business; we are united with our dealer, and our dealer is united with our clients. It is being all together and enjoying life. This is how we created the new furniture collections,” Messina enthuses. “That’s why we began designing sofas, and now it feels natural: when we develop a new shape for a bed or a sofa, the ideas expand.”
This evolution also led to the creation of Natevo, Flou’s sister brand, which introduced the innovative concept of integrating lighting directly into furniture.
“As Italians, we love creating new products and new ideas,” he said. “Our goal is to shape the client’s home in a way that reflects who they are—and to do that, we must be able to produce what they want and adapt quickly.”
He also touched on the evolving role of technology in design. “We are good at transforming ideas into reality. The more ideas there are, the more we can bring to life,” he explained. “We use AI in different ways—to produce new videos for Salone del Mobile Milano, to help our sales teams communicate in Russian or Chinese, and to provide a digital assistant that answers client questions.”
Spaces that Flou
At the heart of the enterprise, Messina believes, is something deeply human and emotive—a feeling that comes alive inside the newly expanded spaces of Abitare Internazionale. The showroom offers an immersive journey through the intimacy of the bedroom, the warmth of the living and dining areas, and the serenity of outdoor spaces.
A rich materials library—textiles, leathers, marbles, and refined finishes—further anchors everything in Flou’s captivating ethos of “designing the art of living.”
The experience begins with an outdoor tableau featuring the Atollo table, distinguished by its cylindrical core that doubles as storage or an unexpected lighting source, paired with the sculptural Tekton chairs from Natevo.
The second setting transitions into a serene bedroom anchored by the Atelier M bed, complemented by Chiaro de Luna night tables and CC Lights open shelves. A living-area extension unfolds beside it, structured around the Madame Butterfly seating series and the Yari table, with a Peak mirror adding a reflective moment on one side. An Iko armchair and Foglio sideboard complete the environment with understated sophistication.
The third space seamlessly blends the living, dining, and bedroom zones. Here, the inviting Fiocco seating system with Foglio inserts and a coordinating center table sets the tone, flowing naturally into a dining area defined by the Gaudi table and Briscola chairs. Beyond it lies the bedroom, anchored by a Taormina bed paired with the handcrafted Leonardo mattress system, Lotus night tables, and a graceful Lilia armchair—a harmonious composition of comfort and craft.
The fourth setting consists of the Iconseating, Gaudicenter table, Pierre and Yaritables while an Iconqueen-sized bed, Foglio night tables, and New Bond bench along with a Continuum desk and Tekton upholstered chairs complete the space.
The fifth setting is composed of a Gaudibed, Madame Butterfly armchair and Pierre breakfast table and Saturno mirror. Their award-winning Gaudi collection, which started from a double bed and night tables, continues as both a seating system and dining table, which has afforded the company more opportunities to expand its application, materiality with sophistication and warmth.
To enhance the environments Abitare Internazionale’s Filane Tan and Jeanne Wee selected lights from Moooi, carpets from Moooi Carpets, and special editions of BenCab tapestries.
Beyond presenting new ideas, Flou’s new signature expresses a deeper truth: that designing spaces as a whole is where the art of living truly takes shape.
Abitare Internazionale is the exclusive distributor of Flou and Natevo in the Philippines.
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