Chopstix Aubergine by JANUS et Cie, Design Paola Navone

Aubergine violet, peacock green and pepper gray are the colors of the new Chopstix collection designed by Paola Navone for JANUS et Cie, a ‘velvety’ palette that makes the appearance of the woven material chosen by the designer for the seats in her third line for the California-based company — after Strada and Dolce Vita — even ‘softer.’

With a structure in aluminium treated with the special JANUScoatTM, both the armchair and the side chair offer a harmonious place to sit, in which the macro-weave of the handwoven olefin takes on a pleasant tactile effect, linking back to age-old weaving techniques with contemporary comfort and allure, a distinctive feature of Paola Navone’s work. This is also a distinctive trait of the company’s output, which like the two-faced mythical personage of the brand’s name, has roots in tradition, in cultural heritage and crafts, as well as that of innovative materials and constant experimentation with design evolution.

The innovation also extends to the launch, during Design Week in Milan this April, of a VR Showroom Experience to present and illustrate this latest collaboration with Paola Navone, along with the previous collections Strada and Dolce Vita. It is a perfect work of virtual architecture that replicates the physical showroom in Milan and was built to inspire designers and enthusiasts no matter where they are around the globe.

Chopstix Pepper by JANUS et Cie, Design Paola Navone
Chopstix Peacock by JANUS et Cie, Design Paola Navone
Chopstix Aubergine by JANUS et Cie, Design Paola Navone

In the Chopstix collection, the chairs become the perfect companions of two different dining tables. The 221, with an oval top, measuring 221 cm, or the 219, an asymmetrical modular model that permits doubling of the length (438 cm) by juxtaposing two tables.  The tables have terrazzo tops in a more luminous Luce Bianca Grande pale composite, or the darker Grigio Tetra — a clear reference to Mediterranean design sensibility. The aluminium base features a game of shifts in the alignment of the horizontal parts — hence the name of the whole collection, Chopstix.

Chopstix Grigio Tetra by JANUS et Cie, Design Paola Navone

Confirming the company’s excellence in design and manufacturing, the armchair has recently won the Red Dot Award 2021 in the Product Design section, inside the category of garden furnishings. This is JANUS et Cie’s third Red Dot, after the Suki Lounge Chair by Janice Feldman and the Gina Recamier by Piero Lissoni, winners in 2014 and 2019.