The bull logo on sports cars is instantly recognisable.

Now, that same brand recognition can be extended to home furniture as well. The Lamborghini family, founders of the Lamborghini motor company, has come up with a luxury collection of sofas, chairs, rugs, lighting, office furniture and home accessories – all stamped with the bull image and branded under Tonino Lamborghini.

“It’s quite a new collection, having been created about four years ago,” says Alex Schlaen, managing director of Panache Management, which is the regional representative for Tonino Lamborghini and Formitalia lines.

Tonino Lamborghini furniture is manufactured by Formitalia, whose design director is Paolo Gucci.

When it comes to truly luxurious furniture, this is it, says Mr Schlaen, who has been in Singapore for some five years, and had spent over 11 years in Japan.

He had been instrumental in bringing in Formitalia furniture to Japan in the ’80s, and being involved in luxury properties here (advising investors or clients), he decided that the market could do with this haute home furniture.

Mr Schlaen says that this line of furniture, which the Lamborghini family is personally involved in, is true luxury and craftsmanship, which is targeted at mainly the top percentile of customers.

With almost everything starting at five figures, one can expect the kind of craftsmanship and leather quality that Florentine leather craftsmen are famous for and bold designs from the Lamborghinis.

In Tonino Lamborghini’s Touring collection, for example, leather from male bulls

is used, and design accents include an ostrich skin design, woven nickel bars and metal trim to reflect the sports car’s design motifs.

Wouldn’t launching the range now, in this economic climate, be a challenge?

Mr Schlaen notes that, in fact, in this downturn and a quieter economy, he expects corporate clients like developers to take note. “If they need something to differentiate their property, Tonino Lamborghini furniture would be it,” he says.

Tonino Lamborghini and Formitalia are exclusively represented in South-east Asia and South Asia by Panache Management.

Tonino Lamborghini: 6838-0562 [Call for exclusive showings]

This article was first published in The Business Times on Nov 29, 2008.