Why Furniture is Better than Fashion

 

I made a quick trip to Milan last weekend for my first trip to Salone del Mobile, the international furniture fair that is the biggest annual event for the design world. I’ve only been to Milan in a fashion context before, but I’ve always wondered about the city’s other aesthetic personality – having sold myself into the fashion trade at a relatively young age, I’ve often second-guessed my decision, entertaining fantasies of kindler, gentler, less obnoxious creative fields populated with beneficent peers cheerfully working towards the harmonious realization of an artistic vision. It’s a ridiculous idea, of course, to imagine that any field is without its share of unpleasant people and interactions, but still, after 10 years working in fashion-related media, I’ve started to wonder if there’s something intrinsically wrong with these … well, technically, I suppose I should say ‘us’.

I’m happy to report that my brief jaunt into the heart of the design industry didn’t disabuse me of my idealistic notions – sure, there were crowds of people and queues and guest lists, but, by and large, everyone was friendly and good-humored, even when they weren’t letting people into a space. If it was a fashion event, the clipboard Nazi would have proffered a sneer disguised as a smile as the bouncer sideswiped the crowds out of the way of an arriving self-anointed VIP.

And while fashion, at its best, is a cauldron of ephemeral, gossamer inspiration that leaves the viewer momentarily breathless, furniture is a more labored, tangible manifestation of beauty, grounded in the everyday reality of our lives – it is, by design, down-to-earth. I could sense this energy on the streets, in the throngs of curious journalists, passersby, buyers and curators, and inside the plethora of exhibition spaces, galleries, showrooms and installations that played temporary home to the design world’s labors of love.

I met many warm, engaging and supremely talented people during my brief visit who opened my eyes to a parallel aesthetic universe that is as appealing, in its own way, as the fashion world. I’m not yet ready to give up my day job, but I am dabbling with the idea of designing some furniture for my apartment. In case you’re curious, I’m attaching some photos of my favorites from the fair below.

Agnieszka Lasota’s electro-polarized glass sculpture-cum-furniture embeds antique pieces, like an age-speckled mirror and rustic wooden dining table, in transparent glass ‘skins’. By activating a current, the top surfaces instantly turn opaque, transforming into a screen on which projections are viewed. The images are imagined memories of the pieces past lives, from an age when they were still alive in the world, and in use. So crystal and china place settings and starched cotton cloths appear on the wooden table, bringing it back to life, and the mirror reflects the image of a woman staring at herself in a mirror as well.

Oskar Zieta’s “Plop” stool uses patented technology that Zieta developed himself – technology that has the potential to revolutionize contemporary manufacturing and construction processes, as well as innovating beautiful forms of design – in which air or water are ‘injected’ into steel, into which multiple ‘controls’ have been incorporated, which results in specific pre-determined forms. Zieta’s light-as-air furniture objects have a playful post-Starckian quality about them, but his more important contribution is the process that results in their creation. He’s designed bridges, consulted for car companies – the potential number of applications are mind-boggling, and he’s intently pursuing the backing he needs to take his ideas further.

Fendi’s Craft Punk installation, in collaboration with Design Miami/ was the most impressive large-scale effort I had the chance to see. Ambra Medda curated a collection of 10 designers who gave live ‘performances’ that showcased particular applications of their sense of craft. My three favorites were Sarah Becker, whose assemblage jewelry built from cast-off Fendi leather scraps and hardware were the kinds of ‘It’ items that fashion boutiques would love to get their hands on, Nacho Carbonell, a young Spanish star whose fantastical figurative sculptures-cum-furniture have captivated the design world, and Studio Glithero, a British duo that applied old-school blueprint technology to ceramics, allowing their audience to witness design being born right before their eyes.

Droog Design’s exhibiton had some amazing pieces, including NEXT Architects bookshelf with built-in trompe l’oeil tomes, that are hinged to allow you to replace the classics with titles of your own choosing, the Boombench by NL architects, an outdoor bench with built-in speakers and Bluetooth technology, allowing owners to broadcast MP3’s from their mobile phones, and Luc d’Hanis and Sofie Lachaert’s porecelain platters smeared with paint, which resolves, when seen in the accompanying silver bottles, into delicate little birds.

Finally, at Rossana Orlandi’s sprawling showroom space, I had the pleasure of soaking in a number of incredible designs – my favorite of the entire week was Jaime Hayon’s candy-colored limited-edition series for Baccarat, reinventing the crystal house’s classic forms into mutant fruit-and-fairy inspired objets d’art that fuse crystal and ceramics. It’s hard to believe that an object can be that beautiful.

 

 

Comments

[Madlina]

Hi,

Thanks for writing such an interesting article. It’s really good to know about the furniture’s in such a detail. But have we ever thought how it would be to work for a Furniture store? There are so many kinds of jobs in the world right now. But we still have no idea at all, which one would be the perfect one for us, and which company would be strong enough to handle the global crisis. Surely we don’t want to apply to a company that suddenly must close because of the global crisis, do we? Well, here is an option for you. This would be the perfect option for you.

In the Careerbuilder.com, you would be able to see that the famous Ashley Furniture, one of the most famous furniture industries is searching for an employee. They are looking for the customer service. They need a few candidates that they could consider to fill the empty position. They need a customer service for the Ashley Furniture Home Store. Perhaps you should take a look in the AshleyHomeStoreNorcal.com to see more about the home store.

Thanks,

[exhibition flooring]

This is a cool screen idea !

Regards
G.m micle

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