Fittes, formally known as Aria Vent, is leading the charge in innovation in interior home renovation. Fittes are known for their unique covers for air vents. What makes Fittes different is that their vents look seamless when installed. Heating vent designs have mostly stayed the same ever since the incorporation of air vents and air registers. While some have tried to flush vents against a surface none of them have ever been able to remove the grill look. Fittes has changed the ventilation game.
Fittes is an industry disruptor. They took their products directly to the customers through social media such as Instagram. Contractors quickly took notice because of the unique look that homeowners and interior designers desired. The demand grew to the point where building material outlets needed to stock them.
![Aria Flush Floor Vent [Lite]](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=MTUzMjo4MzE=-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNTQwIDU0MCIgd2lkdGg9IjU0MCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1NDAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+)
![Aria Framed Wall Vent [Luxe]](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=MTUzODoxNDU5-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNjAwIDYwMCIgd2lkdGg9IjYwMCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI2MDAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+)
![Aria Flush Wall Vent 4″ x 10″ [Lite]](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=MTU0NDo5MTA=-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNTAwIDUwMCIgd2lkdGg9IjUwMCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1MDAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+)
Who are Fittes?
Fittes is a Canadian company founded in the Greater Toronto Area. Fittes was founded in September 2016 by a father daughter duo, Paolo and Roberta Mantenuto. They noticed that one of the mechanical systems in interior home design remained the same, air ventilation.
Both Paolo and Roberta noticed that air ventilation remained stagnant while everything else was becoming more modulor and minimalist. Fittes took over 100 different designs until the aluminum foil prototypes succeeded. They now have 13 employees and are founded in
Roberta graduated from both Humber College and Western University before beginning Fittes with her father. While growing Fittes Vent, Roberta also spends her time volunteering for Habitat for Humanity building homes for those in need.
Interview with Roberta Mantenuto from Fittes
We reached out to Fittes for an interview. Luckily we were able to talk to Roberta Mantenuto regarding the growth of Fittes, the difficulties faced, and plans for the future.
Fittes was founded in 2016 and has grown fast in the last 5 years. What were Paolo and Roberta doing before the success of Fittes?
Roberta: Paolo was the president of Marble and Marble, and also founder and inventor of a few other companies. He used to invent many products for safety in the Marble industry. None of them really took off, but this was a big passion for him as he lost a few friends from workplace incidents – where they were mishandling marble slabs because of lack of safety products / knowledge. He also served on the board of the MIA (marble institute of america) for the safety committee – trying to implement industry safety standards.
I was working in PR just before Fittes at an entertainment PR firm. I stayed in PR for a short while and then decided to travel. I was backpacking through Central America for four months when Paolo sent me the idea for Fittes. Shortly after I came back to Canada we started Fittes. At the beginning of Fittes, I was also doing night school to become an interior designer – I had to abandon that once Fittes began taking off!
How did the idea of modular vent covers come to be?
Roberta: Paolo was solving a problem for a customer at Marble and Marble – the customer had many vents and Paolo was trying to come up with a more modern solution. The customer turned down Paolo’s designs. His customer thought the vent was too modern and “looked like shit” – exact words. So he kept going, tried to make it into a humidifier – that failed. And then made over 100 prototypes, and finalized the design into what we know today as the “Fittes Aria OG”
How did Fittes grow so fast?
Roberta: Contractors are the driving force behind Fittes. We came up at a time where contractors were starting to use Instagram as a marketing tool, and Fittes was great content, and actually solved a problem. Being a visual product – the convergence of instagram and the strong bad-ass construction community behind us – it was the perfect storm. Also – we started as a D2C ecommerce business. We were able to build consumer demand online, and would use that to persuade retailers to take a chance on us and put us on their shelves.
What were some of the difficulties Fittes had to face with the growth and how did Fittes triumph over these difficulties?
Roberta: Finding the right retail partners to work with – for most of our retailers, we are not their regular vendor. We do things differently – we make different products, we process orders differently, we do business differently etc. Finding retail partners who align with our values and understand what we are doing is always a challenge. And that’s not the easiest thing to find, especially in industries who are resistant to innovation and change. We are a forward thinking, innovative product, and our products are best sold by forward thinking innovative people. We (us and our retailers) need to be adding mutual value to each other. So we put extra focus on vetting our partners to ensure we align. This is how we ensure our partnership is successful!
Are there any plans for global expansion?
Roberta: World domination baby! We want to change the way people see building accessories (not JUST vents) EVERYWHERE.
As the new year is coming up, what is next for Fittes in the year 2022?
Roberta: Vents are just the beginning, we are going to repeat what we did with vents with every other unsightly building components. We turn necessary construction components into design features with the “Aria aesthetic”.
![Aria Framed Drywall Device Mount [Lite]](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=MTY0MjoxNjgx-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNjAwIDYwMCIgd2lkdGg9IjYwMCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI2MDAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+)
![Aria Brack-14 Kit [Luxe]](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=MTY0ODoxNTAx-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNjAwIDYwMCIgd2lkdGg9IjYwMCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI2MDAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+)
![Aria Anywhere Niche [Luxe]](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=MTY1NDoxNTI1-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNjAwIDYwMCIgd2lkdGg9IjYwMCIgaGVpZ2h0PSI2MDAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+)
Where Can I Buy Fittes Aria Products?
Master Building Materials stocks a wide range of Fittes Aria Vent products. The products of theirs we include are the Fittes Aria OG, Flushmount Pro, Drywall Lite Bead, and Drywall Pro Exhaust Fan. Give us a call or write to us regarding what you need and we will gladly accommodate your needs.
