Today we are meeting Daniele Teruzzi, the creator, inventor and chief designer of Peg Perego products and the Manager of the Style Centre, whose intuition and skills have earned him the reputation of “genius”.

What is a Style Centre in a company like Peg Perego? What happens in your department?
Love and commitment to one’s job are important, especially when working in the Style Centre of a big company like Peg Perego.

To begin with, I would like to reduce the importance given to my role in the company. I am known as “genius”, but that applies to all the people who work here. Every idea we think of during the day and every kind of experience with children can create a new subject or pattern that will be considered.
About 30 people work in our department, which is divided into four business units. Ours is the Style Centre and it works in synergy with the other units.

Where do product ideas come from? Who decides if they should be developed or discarded?
We constantly and assiduously pay attention. We research design aspects, aesthetic solutions, functionality and laws. Our team is made up of competent stylists, pattern makers and designers, who work together with the aim of combining quality, attention to aesthetics and refined details, always taking the safety of children into account. Every year we produce hundreds of sketches of toys, strollers and new collections (sometimes we use IT), but only a few of them reach the final check-up phase with the creation of a prototype, a crucial phase that is aimed at improving aesthetics, comfort levels, functionality and the optimisation of materials, in order to have a balanced price.

For example, how was Siesta, the new multi-function high chair, born?
About a year ago we drew the first Siesta sketch. We needed to replace the attractive, but a little aged, Prima Pappa high chair, creating a more modern item that is easier to collapse and has a catchy design. The seat can be reclined, making it suitable even for babies who are little more than newborns. Its innovative design makes it unique in this product sector.

Who chooses the name of the new products?
Names are a real challenge. It is not easy to decide. Matching the right name with the right product is incredibly important when launching a product on the market. The marketing unit deals with almost all the names.

The models and lines you create are produced for a number of years. What kinds of changes are made to a product after it is launched?
A product can last for years if it is continuously updated. Technical and aesthetic improvements are the ones that require the most time but they make a product last longer in the market. We obviously take into account the feedback of customers filtered by Testing Centres, which is essential to achieve made in Italy perfection, which can be seen more and more often.

Thank you, Daniele Teruzzi, for allowing us to peep into your “laboratory” – it is a real privilege to discover how the products we use every day are born. We are pleased to describe the rest of the team as “geniuses” but, just this once, we really must acknowledge the professional skills, competence and creativity that are the distinguishing features of this “member” of the great Peg Perego family.