Founder & Creative Director
Garofano was founded by Romain Pison, an Italian-raised creative director whose work sits at the intersection of design, architecture, and long-term value creation.
Raised in a culture where furniture is conceived as part of a home’s permanent language rather than a seasonal choice, his approach is shaped by proportion, comfort, and material honesty. His work across design-led projects and investment-driven environments has informed a disciplined view of how objects should be made, priced, and kept over time.
At Garofano, he oversees creative direction and collection development, working closely with a collective of designers in Italy. The objective is not to follow trends, but to curate pieces that reflect a consistent design philosophy — refined, restrained, and built to endure.
The Story of Garofano
Garofano was established with a clear conviction: Italian design is not merely a visual language, but a way of thinking about space, proportion, materials, and time. It is a discipline shaped by how furniture is lived with — quietly, daily, and often for decades.
The brand emerged in response to a global market increasingly saturated with furniture that borrows the appearance of Italian design while losing its underlying principles. What remains is often a surface interpretation: familiar forms reproduced at scale, detached from the culture that originally shaped them.
Garofano takes a more considered approach.
Its collections are developed in collaboration with a collective of designers and makers based in Italy, brought together by a shared design sensibility rather than a single signature style. This collective process allows each piece to be refined through proportion, balance, and comfort — designed to feel relevant today and remain so over time.
Production is intentionally limited. Pieces are made in small runs, with careful attention to construction, upholstery, and finishes. Customisation is offered selectively, where it serves the integrity of the design rather than diluting it. Comfort is treated as a fundamental design requirement, not an afterthought.
Garofano does not follow the rhythms of fast furniture or trend-driven luxury. It operates at a measured pace, aligned with the realities of responsible production and international logistics. Transparency around timelines, materials, and process is part of this commitment.
The name Garofano — the Italian word for carnation — reflects this philosophy. In Italian culture, the flower symbolises character, restraint, and quiet confidence: a presence that does not rely on excess to be noticed.