8 Questions with Gianluca Filippi, CEO of Tonino Lamborghini

Forget the everyday smartphone. Tonino Lamborghini is setting the bar for fiercely stylish luxury goods and accessories like you’ve never seen before. Founded by the son of former Automobili Lamborghini owner Ferruccio Lamborghini, the Italian luxury lifestyle and accessories group is on the cutting edge of technology with its line of super chic accessories, some of which include a stunning array of luxury timepieces, quantum in-ear headphones and a line of mobile phones called Antares.

CEO Gianluca Filippi is leading the movement towards refined and stylish gadgets with Tonino Lamborghini’s Antares Smartphone, a work of art that just won the award for “Best Luxury Smartphone” at the Best Gadget of the Year Awards. Haute Living had a chance to catch up with the busy CEO about the latest award and what else is in the works for Tonino Lamborghini.

1. Congrats on the award for the “Best Luxury Smartphone” at the Best Gadget of the Year Awards.  What are some of the cool features of this phone that we won’t find in other smart phones?

Thank you! Actually this Award is very important for us. Our customers pay special attention to the style and at the same time they appreciate the good internal specifications. So we tried to create a gadget that is the perfect complement to the character and matches the client’s lifestyle at the same time. For example, it is helpful in business and everyday activities. Antares perfectly suits those who appreciate design and quality.

As for the design, epitomizing the Tonino Lamborghini signature craftsmanship, the refined Antares body is made from stainless steel and features an exquisite leather inlay. Each piece of the smartphone is hand polished. In terms of technology we created a technologically superior product. It has a powerful processor and 64 GB of flash memory. Thanks to a partnership with Android we have a Tonino Lamborghini customized Android platform.

With Antares we have also created a new segment in mobile technology that we call techno-luxury. Our clients like being at the peak of the events. So I’m sure they will be satisfied with our creation!

2. What do you think of products like Google Glass and the smart watches that are now on the market?

We’re now watching the rapidly growing market. No doubt about the fact that wearable technology will change and make life easier for its users.

3. Will Tonino Lamborghini be doing anything like that?

Our goal has always been to spread our own style around the world.  Since its inception in the early 80s, the Tonino Lamborghini Company has created products that embody innovation and the timeless value characteristic of the Italian culture. Today, we are matching those characteristics to high technology. Any creative alternative we do have to proceed in such process will be our natural path.

4. How do you ensure that Tonino Lamborghini products and accessories are always on the cutting edge?

For 33 years, Tonino Lamborghini has been a byword for ‘Made in Italy’. Instantly recognizable, the style of the ‘Raging Bull’ embodies a consummately Italian tradition of elegance, class, defiance and power that has become synonymous the world over with originality and luxury. A unique spirit permeates every product conceived, designed and created by Tonino Lamborghini. Our brand possesses the ability to innovate, yet remain faithful to a tradition that embodies boldness and elegance. This passionate quest to capture the essence of Italian Style is what drives Tonino Lamborghini and is behind the collections bearing his name. It’s in the design, the attention to details and the desire that only a prestigious brand can awaken.

5. Who should be using your products?

The Tonino Lamborghini brand is for men and women who like to surround themselves with products that go beyond current fads, and which project a timeless elegance, express strength, sophistication, and Italian design. The Tonino Lamborghini collection accompanies the stylish people who exude confidence and sophistication, poise and modernity.

A consumer of our goods loves quality, luxury and exclusivity. We understand that luxury now is the opportunity to live in the conceptual world. In 2013, in China, we constructed three five stars luxury hotels, and we’re planning to open one more in 2014. In these structures each thing, each accessory, is branded Tonino Lamborghini. The idea is that it isn’t simply to be able use luxury things but to live in a space subordinated to design, expensive materials and beauty. A real lifestyle.

6. Any A-list customers that regularly use Tonino Lamborghini’s products?

Many VIP actually such as singer Jamelia, popular British illusionist Steve Frayne (Dynamo), TV host Jonathan Ross and model Sarah Harding have become owners of a new series of Quantum headphones and other gifts during the launch of sales in Selfridges.

7. What are five luxuries you that you personally cannot live without?

I believe that luxury – it is not things, but happiness. First of all, I believe that my personal happiness is my family. Career is an integral part of my life. And every step in the right direction gives me pleasure. These are really the things I could not live without.

8. Can you talk about any future projects that Tonino Lamborghini has in the works?

Tonino Lamborghini Company continues to grow in all of its markets and, of course, we try to please our consumers with only the best products. We’ve recently created an e-boutique website where we can premiere all our current and upcoming premium products. We have plans to launch other premium products there in the future, but more on that later.

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