For the 10th year anniversary Manfredi    commissioned Beat Poët, one of Australia’s most promising design duos, to create the concept for their  Espresso di Manfredi anniversary celebrations.

Beat Poët (Edward Bertouch and James Johnson) transformed Blanco Restaurant and Bar, Kings Cross, Sydney, into a celebration of modernism for the Espresso di Manfredi anniversary party on August 18. The award-winning fashion design team has also designed a limited edition series of waistcoats to accompany and enhance the Espresso di Manfredi by Piazza d’Oro 10th year anniversary experience.

Fashion and design have always been an important factor for Stefano Manfredi and Julie Manfredi Hughes. Using baristas as the initial inspiration to define the design of the waistcoats, Ed and James set out to create a versatile accessory that can be worn by anyone, at anytime – whether it is behind the coffee machine, or over a crisp white shirt for after work drinks.

“Design is important in everything we do,” says Julie Manfredi Hughes, a key design force behindEspresso di Manfredi by Piazza D’Oro. “When working with a designer, whether it be in creating a restaurant, a waistcoat or indeed a coffee cup, the design brief must always ask that the result have a long life, to look like it has always been part of the landscape and will not look dated or faddish in 10 years time. I look for innovation in design, but any innovation must also have functionality and I really believe what James and Ed have delivered is perfect.”

On the Espresso di Manfredi design and concept, the design duo says: “Before the clichéd target signs and army parkas, the 60’s mod movement was all about British youth looking to continental Europe, especially Italy and France for style inspiration. Driving between Italian-style cafes and jazz clubs on the latest Lambretta and Vespa scooters, the first wave of mods would go to see black and white foreign films to sketch the details of the clothes so that they could get their tailors to create the sharpest suits”. For the Espresso di Manfredi 10th anniversary celebrations, we wanted to highlight the European heritage of the brand and quality of the coffee, as a mod’s pride was based on only engaging in the finer things in life.”

Beat Poët menswear was formed in Sydney in 2005, with a humble accessories line. After a year of concept development in Melbourne, Ed and James returned to Sydney to launch their Spring Summer installment of their first collection.

Producing trans-seasonal collections of cold, minimalist menswear, Beat Poët, works toward a certain ideal of elegant subversion. Zero Form was their RAFW debut collection showing (SS10) in Sydney in 2009, and was the label’s seventh season. The same year, Ed and James went on to win the designer of the year at the GQ Men of The Year awards