The rediscovery of nature and a new attitude in everyday life, which becomes simpler and more essential. Along with a greater focus on recycled and sustainable materials. These are just some of the factors seen in the design collections for 2021 (with some eccentric exceptions to the rules, of course). From rose-petal chairs to benches in petrified wood, by way of many designer debuts in furnishings, our editorial staff has chosen some of the most striking objects and complements that reached the market this year.
Hortensia upholstered chair by Moooi
Moooi has given concrete form to the ‘virtual’ dream of Andrés Reisinger, through serial production of his famous floral chair covered with over 30,000 fabric rose petals. Reisinger has joined forces with the Dutch design brand Moooi and textile designer Júlia Esqué, and this year his Hortensia model has been (re)produced as a series, after an initial limited edition in 2019. To make the texture, Reisinger and his team have developed a series of modules in light, soft polyester fabric cut with lasers. Over 30,000 petals are needed to cover the entire surface of the chair.
Petal Chair by Louis Vuitton
The French fashion house has also been charmed by flowers. The Petal Chair is an elegant leather seat presented by Louis Vuitton this year during the Fuorisalone. It has been designed by the Dutch creator Marcel Wanders, inspired by a lush garden to pay tribute to nature and the iconic monogram flower of the company. The seat is formed by comfortable petal-shaped cushions covered in white leather, while the base is like a flexible stem. Très chic!
The first Dolce & Gabbana furnishings line
Dolce & Gabbana chose the show of their new haute couture collection (in Venice, last August) as the moment to launch their first collection of furniture and complements for the home. The collection of very colorful and eccentric pieces, in perfect tune with the duo’s style, offers wide variety, from sofas to tables, chairs to chandeliers, as well as carpets, floor tiles and coffee machines.
Saint Laurent Rive Droite Memphis
The Belgian fashion designer (and creative director of Saint Laurent) Anthony Vaccarello has decided to collaborate with the Italian design and architecture group Memphis, which in 2021 celebrated its 40th anniversary. Inspired by the playful, colorful and geometric world of Memphis, Vaccarello for Saint Laurent has created an exclusive capsule collection of multicolored garments and accessories, including a wide range of objects for the home: ashtrays, vases, dishes, glasses, decorations and textile accessories.
The first Lego home accessories collection
In collaboration with Room Copenhagen, Lego has produced its first collection of home accessories in FSC certified red oak, composed of drawers, shelves, coat racks and frames. All assembled by hand and designed to scale like the iconic bricks, for easy stacking in the Lego tradition.
The Hotel Chimera ceramics collection by CEDIT
At the Fuorisalone in Milan, this year CEDIT presented a capsule collection of great expressive and symbolic impact, based on Greek mythology. A ceramic artwork of almost 12 square meters, composed of 80 unique pieces signed by hand, one by one, by the Milanese designer Elena Salmistraro, who had already worked with the famous Ceramiche d’Italia group in 2020 to create the Chimera collection, with illustrations on large slabs of porcelain stoneware.
The LIBERA kitchen by Elmar
This year Elmar presented a new, exclusive kitchen designed by the architects Marco Merendi & Diego Vencato. It is called LIBERA, and in fact it comes from careful reflections on ‘liberated’ living in the contemporary world: created for open spaces, it is ready to enter into dialogue with any space in the home, and can also be inserted in various contexts. Compact, elegant and functional, LIBERA makes use of colored concrete for the first time in this type of application.
The LAPIS collection by Simone Pedretti
LAPIS, from the Latin word for stone, but also meaning ‘pencil,’ is a collection of unique, one-of-a-kind objects using one of the rarest and unconventional materials in the world: petrified wood dating back to over 30 million years ago. The series created by architect and designer Luca Sartori, co-founder of the Italian firm SUPERLUNA, references places of memory in the Trentino region. This is the first collection of Simone Pedretti, heir to a family tradition.
Hut by Ethimo
Made together with Marco Lavit, Hut is a true lounge bed, which rejects the separation between solitude and socializing. The semicircular structure offers a glimpse at the front, while optionally providing privacy or openness to the outside. The form is like a teepee, the conical tent used by native Americans in the Great Plains, originally made with skins, birch bark or canvases. The materials of Hut, on the other hand, are long slats of Siberian larch, or the new Accoya® acetylated super-wood.
