While the days grow lighter and longer, giving the sensation of an early spring, on the first of February, Chinese New Year, we officially entered the Year of the Tiger, an event which happens every 60 years.
The Chinese zodiac is composed of 12 signs, but unlike the Western zodiac, they are not divided into months but into years multiplied by 5, the number indicating the quantity of elements that compose nature for the Chinese: metal, water, fire, wood and earth.
So 12 signs, 12 animals that, according to Buddhist traditions, were those that responded to Buddha’s call to have the entire animal kingdom present when he realised his days of life on earth were coming to an end.
The tiger, with its characteristic sinewy gait, is an animal capable of alternating elegance and strength, and with it auspices for boldness and complete bravery.
The Chinese consider it the unquestionable king of animals, it lives in the secrecy of its own essence, far from the rules and patterns of a pack, enshrouded in a constant aura of mystery, which makes its vitality not just the power it manifests, but also and above all its astonishing unpredictable nature.
Unica has always viewed itself as similar to the tiger in terms of its sensitivity and characteristics. Three years ago it participated in a symbolic adoption of Cinta, Sumatran tigers, at risk of extinction and this year, in line with the major luxury, fashion and design firms, it decided to pay homage to the year of the Water Tiger, creating a table that will bear the name of the adopted animal.
Cinta, Unica’s new table, will be inspired graphically, not just by the strength and nobility of the depicted animal, but will start from a new interpretation of sketches acquired at the Fondazione Fashion Research Italy initially created by Boggia Disegni for Silkin, and, like all of our creations, in constant dialogue with the elements of nature, aimed at bringing all of the essence of life that it is inspired by to the world of design.
As in the Chinese zodiac, where the characteristics this year will be mitigated by those of water, in our work all of the power and implacability of nature will be harmonised by the name, because Cinta means “Love” in Indonesian.