By Susan Semenak
Photography by Meavita Media
Four or five times a year, Ali Khalilzadeh and Sareh Shalchi, co-owners of Floorence Tile & Slab, go tile shopping in Italy and Spain. The husband-and-wife duo travel there to visit their suppliers, who manufacture some of the world’s finest tiles, meet with designers in their studios and place their orders. But it’s also where they go to get excited and inspired by the latest European trends. These trips, they say, are how they fill their showroom in Caledonia, on the edge of Toronto’s design district, with a vast and sophisticated selection of large-format tiles, smaller mosaics and porcelain slabs.
“On the market, there are a lot of lesser-quality products manufactured in China and India and elsewhere. But our idea, right from the start, was to be different: to import only exclusive and unique designer materials that can’t be found with our competitors,” says Khalilzadeh, who studied civil engineering and founded Floorence Tile & Slab 15 years ago alongside designer Shalchi.
Floorence Tile & Slab’s suppliers in Italy and Spain are both famous brands and niche boutique manufacturers, but all are recognized for their high-quality craftsmanship and a reputation for not only keeping up with the latest trends in European design but shaping them.
“We go often because it is exciting and because it gives us the chance to see what is happening in Europe, which is often five or more years ahead of North America when it comes to design,” he explains. “Other tile stores order and re-order the same white subway tiles or grey-veined Statuario marble over and over, but we want to always be ahead of the curve—to have what’s newest and most beautiful, whether it is in a style that is timeless and traditional or completely contemporary.”
On their latest trips to Modena, Italy and Castellón, Spain this past fall and winter, the couple spotted a number of new enthralling design trends, including a move away from the grey tones that have dominated interiors for nearly a decade toward soft, warm whites and subtle beiges.
This year, rather than a T-shirt or souvenir cup, they came home with exclusive North American distribution rights to Automobili Lamborghini large-size slabs created by the iconic Italian automaker in collaboration with the prestigious ceramics firm Laminam. They also found themselves admiring a new generation of slabs carved using cutting-edge technologies to produce textured veining that seems to glow in certain light and tiles with satin finishes that are super-smooth to the touch yet still appear matte.
“The trend this year is toward matte finishes in contemporary design, leaving polished surfaces to more classic looks,” Khalilzadeh says. “But there is also room for whimsy. We saw flashes of exotic pinks and blues and purples for feature walls.”
Khalilzadeh says Floorence Tile & Slab has differentiated itself from its rivals in another way: by maintaining not just samples but a well-stocked inventory of hundreds of tiles and slabs that are ready to go, unlike competitors who often require clients to place orders and wait for several weeks before delivery.
The company strives to make its showroom a design incubator—an inspiring space brimming with design ideas, where clients can see the materials in real-room settings. “We want to help them be able to visualize what our products will look like in their own homes,” he explains.
To help, Floorence Tile & Slab recently introduced virtual reality goggles that allow clients to see porcelain slabs as they would look in various settings in the home, such as on a fireplace, television wall or kitchen counter.
“You put on the goggles, select the slab you like and then you get to walk around in the room, changing the colour and the finishes and also how things look at different times of day and night,” Khalilzadeh says. “People love that. If you aren’t a designer, it can be hard otherwise to imagine the finished project.”
It’s a further testament to Khalilzadeh’s and Shalchi’s commitment to putting Floorence Tile & Slab at the forefront of the design community. Whether offering the latest technology or stocking bold European designs, the duo keeps their eyes on the future, continuing to innovate and evolve so that Floorence remains at the cutting edge for decades to come.