Seven years ago he bought a plane, which had marked a waste destination. It was scrap. “I invested everything I had- although it was not so much- and the idea of acquiring it and turning it into furniture, arose from a double passion: that of design and aviation. The world of airplanes always fascinated me, not only for technology but also for the unique aesthetics of each part, ”says Agustín, surrounded by its high -end furniture. Although the result is luxury pieces, “recycling is a priority axis of our identity and we contribute to environmental conservation and reuse,” he adds.
It is perceived simple, with a low profile, a young classic. Perhaps the reader could imagine an eccentric type, a bit delusional. It is not the case. When he speaks, he takes care of what he says and, from time to time, his eyes are lit by evoking some memory of his adventure. The environment, his showroom, has something surreal. An armchair made with a fuel tank-“People believe it is a missile,” he says funny-, a mouse table with the base of an plane wheel, a sculpture built with blades …
News: It is like a dream of the kid who had the privilege of realizing.
Agustín Soler: As a boy they took me to the waterfront to see the planes. I saw them land, take off, I liked the noise and I had the illusion of traveling … I might stain this. And the design has to do with my mother who, although he did not formally dedicate himself, always restored old furniture, in his house at home. And I helped her, like a game. This mixture between the emotion of the planes and the maternal artistic side settled in me.
News: What is your professional training?
Soler: I am not an industrial designer. I studied 5 years of industrial engineering. I always liked mechanics, mathematics … I worked for many years in a dependency relationship in the automotive field, as a zonal sales manager in the last stage. I started in marketing, I had a work experience in Spain and returned.
News: When and why did you make the decision to create Hangar style?
Soler: The idea arose in 2018; He had seen an incipient trend in Europe and the United States; I liked it, but I thought it wasn’t very viable here. We do not have an aeronautical park as large as they. But aeronautical furniture was not there, it was not exploited. And what is little, is a lot to start.
News: What did you see in Europe and the United States?
Soler: Boeing took out its furniture line a couple of years ago in the United States. And in Europe there are several firms that expose especially in Formula One races. Airplanes, cars, kartings and boats convene a fierrero audience.
News: When he bought the first plane, did he really invest everything he had?
Soler: Absolutely everything was not much! It was a Fairchild F-27 plane from Morón, former Cata Airline, 97 meters long, which at that time seemed to me a bestiality. And it was a great experience, it was my first time; You had to get the permits to work inside the airport. I had no factory. But things began to occur. The plane had to be transported in trucks and that was crazy. There were three trucks and I was following them with the car. The journey was going down Av. Márquez, all for San Isidro, for Panamericana … I saw the people who looked and threw themselves to the bench to take photos!
News: Did his family and friends think he was crazy?
Soler: Many thought he was crazy and part of reason were. I saw that over time. Generating a luxury brand, exclusive like this, is different because the difficulty is to be able to establish it. We have exclusivity and not competence. You can find the aviator concept, but not the piece.
News: Can you describe the process of carrying out these pieces of plane transformed into furniture? I do not know if the analogy is valid, but the creative part that is in sight, a fuel tank turned into an armchair, for example, suggests the creation of a haute-couy dress …
Soler: (Smiles) we have unique pieces, such as fuel tanks that are scarce. From this, the piece is something unique and you have to understand its value and its price. We bought airplanes that were in service many years, and each one has its peculiarity. Although you buy fuselage with windows, they are different. I choose pieces of all kinds, I take them to the workshop, and sometimes there are a while there. We wonder what we do with this and one day the idea appears.
News: You work with Alberto Quinteros, from Aircraft Integral Solution, with experience in disassembly and aircraft assembly.
Soler: It is an aeronautical scrapping company, the one that achieves more parts of aircraft. Before there were several players, today is and two more. I work with everyone, but Quinteros bought 80% of the pieces. When they are available, we go to the property and choose. All planes- civil or war- have something that can be reused.
News: Chosen the piece, how does it continue?
Soler: We begin to design, observing the form and thinking what functionality we are going to give. We imagine whether it will be the foot of a table, the base of a desk, if we will use laser or water cut .. This of not producing in series, to ask for materials for the only time, makes the furniture or the object expensive. Each furniture takes time, six months, more …
News: What parts of the plane are more inspiring?
Soler: The wings, the engines, the fuselage. The tires are good for mouse table; We have some model with the complete wheel.
News: It has a team.
Soler: Yes. The industrial designer who leads the concept to design, to reality. Approved, it goes to the production part my brother Francisco (27). The molding comes, all the parts are made first in wood, they are tested on the piece and there we look for the supplier for the cut.
News: Another concept is recycling.
Soler: We create from something in disuse; We transform it into something aesthetic and functional, giving it a new life.
News: Here is a vedette that is the Trolley, the cart that carries the flight attendant with the on -board menu. But they are not recycled.
Soler: When we emerged with the first trolleys they were original and they went out of hand. They liked them a lot. The problem is that they are not achieved because they are reused. So we copied the format. And thanks to the volume of sales that we achieved with this rolling furniture, we could grow.
News: What is your client’s profile?
Soler: A high socio -economic profile. People think of single men, over 40. But no. A lot of family with children from closed neighborhoods, new Quilmes, Hudson … and we have many clients. We sell anywhere in the world. A lot to Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Miami.
News: Do you have famous customers?
Soler: They always ask me! I am not a cholulo but also, they buy and I do not find out. We have retired soccer players, actresses and many businessmen in anonymity. Sometimes you don’t know who the final customer is because you deal with the architect or the designer.
News: He is married to Berenice (29) and they have a son, Salvador, one year and three months. Was your wife with you from the beginning?
Soler: She is from the origin. I met her in the middle of the pandemic and it was the pandemia that inclined me to work only for hangar style. In 2018, the idea arose, but only at the end of 2019 or early 2020, the fact of guiding furniture gained strength. And Berenice was huge support. It was one of the people who promoted me or gave me the confidence to leave the company I was in and dedicate myself to full to the new venture.
News: I understand that his wife was his key piece. Is it still there, firm?
Soler: Today it is very involved in new things because the spectrum increases. I stayed in very aeronautical things and she saw a line, Hangar Home, which has to do with dishes, white, etc., for the trolleys. People use them to put a cava, drinks, towels and objects for Toilette. They are rolling furniture with multiple uses.
News: How do you see the country in this Milei period?
Soler: For us, 2024 was hard, atypical. With a very pronounced consumption decline the first and much of the second quarter. It is attributed to the economic measures of the government, which are not misguided. Milei was clear, he said what he would do and did. While we have an audience with money, it is extremely speculative, it is handled with investments and bet on finance. From October there was a rebound. I see it well, we point to a good 2025. We trust that the measures are successful and that consumption will be reactivated.
News: New projects?
Soler: A leather armchairs line. People need accessories, the home line … many things we do arise from customers.
