Italian luxury brand Molteni has opened a flagship showroom in the Iranian capital, describing itself as a "pioneer" for design companies moving into the country following the lifting of trade embargoes earlier this year.
Molteni Group ? which owns the Molteni&C furniture company, as well as the Dada and Armani Dada luxury kitchen brands ? teamed up with Iranian company Ravagh Home to launch Molteni Persia in Tehran.
It is the brand's first major showroom in Iran ? a country that is currently experiencing a boom in architecture and design, thanks to an expanding economy and a growing demand for contemporary lifestyles.
Molteni's new showroom occupies two floors of a 1,000-square-metre former Belgian embassy building near the city centre Open since May, the showroom takes up two floors of a 1,000-square-metre former Belgian embassy building at 82 Fereshteh, near the city centre. The upper floors of the renovated building will be used for art exhibitions.
"We are the first [Italian brand] investing that much in this market," said Marco Piscitelli, Molteni's general manager.
"We consider ourselves like a pioneer," he told Dezeen. "There are some of our competitors there also, or trying now to approach the market, but I am proud to say that we are the best in town because we started to study the market early."
The Italian company believes the burgeoning Iranian market will generate between ?4 million (£3 million) and ?5 m...