The partnership between Kvadrat Maharam and contemporary Australian furniture brand nau celebrates a shared respect for humble craftsmanship, tailored detailing and honest high-quality materials. Launching at ICFF in New York, the nau collection is presented in a curated selection of Kvadrat and Maharam upholsteries ranging from textured wool blends from Kvadrat to leathers from Maharam.

With a colour palette that is both fresh and directional, yet reassuringly classic and rich, Kvadrat Maharam upholstery provides endless opportunities to invigorate the nau designs – giving each piece a unique character and sense of quality and style.

Launching 21-24 May at ICFF in New York, nau is a contemporary Australian design brand offering furniture, lighting and accessories by a collective of Australia’s most curious, talented and spirited designers.

nau is the embodiment of fresh thinking, offering contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories by a collective of Australia’s most spirited designers including Adam Cornish, Adam Goodrum, Gavin Harris and Jack Flanagan.

Producing designs suitable for residential and commercial spaces, from elegant lounge furniture to modular shelving with endless possibility, the nau collection is reductive in form, honest in materiality and timeless in style.

nau collection pictured features the following upolstery;

Fat Tulip upholstered in kvadrat Sunniva 2 col. 172

Plum Easy Chair upholstered in kvadrat Vidar col. 972

Plum Ottoman upholstered in kvadrat Vidar col. 972

Bower High Back Meeting Chair upholstered in kvadrat Sunniva 2 col. 717

Bower Chair Low Back upholstered in kvadrat Maharam Leather Bask 002

Insitu images by Brooke Holm

The renowned Italian colourist Giulio Ridolfo has skillfully reimagined the colour palette of Kvadrat upholsteries Canvas 2 and Steelcut Trio 3 and the curtain textile Zulu 2 and will present the new Recheck, a refined woollen upholstery textile, inspired by traditional check patterns originating in women’s couture from the 1950’s. Designed by Giulio Ridolfo, the 17 colourways of Recheck are divided over four related patterns with subtle play of stripes and colour nuances.

In celebration of the launch, Danish-Italian design duo GamFratesi created the whimsical, expressive installation MASK, which will be on show at the Kvadrat showroom at Corso Monforte 15.

“We wanted to constrain ourselves using a single element, completely made of textile. The repetition will create a playful installation that highlights colour. Textile is the ‘mask’ of a piece of furniture, it changes its personality or make it act in an unexpected way. We play with the iconic shape and expression of the ancient mask. As an ancient human practice from different cultures, masks are not only used in ceremonies, but hold different meanings for protection and ritual as well as being used as ornamentation and for performance. Our aim was to emphasize the celebration of textile through this antique tradition.” GamFratesi

Maharam is expanding its rug offering with an inaugural collection of high-traffic rugs designed in-house. A first for the Maharam Design Studio, Margin, Interval, and Ambit join an existing collection of rugs that are either designed in collaboration with Paola Lenti or created by Danskina, the Dutch rug company co-owned by Kvadrat and Maharam that is now under the creative direction of Hella Jongerius. Woven domestically on specialty velvet looms, these three styles balance warm, personalized details with a modern, architectural aesthetic. Furthermore, with the ability to be configured to any size or section of the repeat, Margin, Interval, and Ambit have vast potential for customization. In reimagining a typically anonymous contract product through customization and elevated materials and colors, this initial grouping reflects the Maharam Design Studio’s belief that every product category should fuse utility with luxury and innovation.

Margin, Interval, and Ambit are tailored surfaces composed of substantial New Zealand wool: a material selected for its exceptional aesthetic and performance attributes. Margin’s large, 12' repeat offers a progression of crisp pinstripes across a refined, low-pile epingle surface. Richly heathered grounds in a range of menswear neutrals offset slim infusions of coral, charcoal, mandarin, and turquoise. Interval, on the other hand, features densely arranged vertical stripes in a spectrum of colors that shift across horizontal bands of uncut loops. Anchoring ambient, blended color to the floor, Interval balances warm and cool neutrals with unexpected shades of mauve, cadmium, lemon, blush, and lapis. The loftiest of the three, Ambit is a multicolor gradient overlain with horizontal stripes of contrasting loops. Underscored by a warm, earthy palette, Ambit’s 6' repeat appears as a lively wash of color from afar. 

Serving as refined visual anchors to demarcate a range of interior settings, all three designs reflect the Maharam Design Studio’s desire to innovate along with a careful consideration of intended use. Engineered for versatility and performance, Margin, Interval, and Ambit’s color direction is largely appropriate for broad application but borrows unexpected heathered neutrals or nuanced organic tones typically found in fashion and residential design. While industrially produced, each design references the personalization of artisanal production in the placement of irregular wool loops, lofty, fibrous pile, and neutral cotton-bound borders. Pre-inventoried, the rugs can be ordered with a two-week lead time.

View the full Margin collection here 

View the full Ambit collection here

View the full Interval collection here

The Karo collection from Schiavello is designed to allow workers to choose the configuration of their own workspace – and we’re delighted that Schiavello chose Mode by Maharam as the house textile for this elegant collection of ottomans.

Designed by long-time Schiavello collaborator Ivan Woods, the Karo collection is simple and honest in its purpose. Soft, lightweight and agile in design, the ottomans can be used for quiet solo work or effortlessly configured for collaborative team catch-ups. Available in a variety of sizes in round, square and rectangular configurations, the geometric nature of each ottoman allows it to blend with its surrounding elements to create a unified space.

Schiavello chose Mode as Karo’s house textile due to its high performance and vibrant colour selection. “Mode’s simplicity and uniformity is why it was our choice of fabric for Karo,” says Anton Schiavello, Design and Marketing Director for Schiavello International “It’s just beautiful. The fabulous colour range was also vital to our choice, and this was a significant contributing factor to our eventual selection of Mode.”

Offering the look and feel of wool, Mode is constructed of 80% post-consumer recycled polyester, which comprises fibers manufactured from waste that’s been used by the consumer, disposed of, and diverted from landfills.

Anton explains that this was another deciding factor for Schiavello. “A textile that uses post consumer recycled material is always something we take into consideration when specifying finishes,” he says. “Our own manufacturing processes and materials are pulled through vigorous standards and testing, and to let all this down by choosing a covering that is not in line would be against our goals as a business.”

Mode features a substantial hopsack weave in lush two-tone colours and, despite its wool-like texture, it is constructed to provide the perfect amount of stretch. The Mode collection also has an expansive palette of 43 colourways.

“The wide and relevant selection of colours suited the wider Schiavello ColourLab range, and the fact that Mode is tested to 100,000 double rubs also shows its relevance to our commercial market,” adds Anton. “Mode is a superior product amongst the textile industry.”

Vue the MODE COLLECTION here

During his New York Fashion Week show, menswear designer Patrik Ervell presented his FW17 collection featuring Maharam leather Hue and textiles Mohair Extreme, Wool Veiling, Ledger and Aria. Our partnership with Patrik Ervell began in spring 2015 and this is his fifth consecutive collection incorporating a prominent assortment of Maharam textiles. 

According to Patrik, the collection takes inspiration from “various early 90’s dance subcultures” as the “last moment possible for an authentic subculture to exist” before the post-internet era. Studying the “intersection of the underground and the future,” Patrik presented 23 looks with a focus on outerwear.

You can see more of Patrik's collection here

The new rugs Reap, Burrow and Merger each in their own way express Danskina’s commitment to design, material innovation and skilled craftsmanship and celebrate the beauty to be found in simplicity and in handmade imperfection.

A luxurious rug, Burrow is ideal for adding warmth and richness to any home. Hand knotted from soft, hand-spun, Tibetan wool, this classic high pile rug exhibits a plush texture with three different levels of pile, running seamlessly from flat and finely woven to plush and soft. Like waves crashing softly into a sandy beach, the different layers of pile add up to form a steadily rising surface with nuances of different shades of colour shimmering in the wool’s subtle irregularities.

Merger is a colour story. In this playful, warm design, two tone-on-tone colours are juxtaposed on a light or dark base, creating a lively and uplifting colour-block effect. The subtle differences in colour hues make Merger an easy-going product with a harmoneous, yet fresh character. This is a special and outspoken rug that is well suited to bold and sophisticated settings. Its distinctive twill, with the colours meeting at different directions and angles, creates a tactile slightly ribbed surface. Merger comes in 8 colours and is made from New Zealand wool on a cotton warp.

Made from thick felted woollen yarn on a fine polyester warp, Reap is woven like a fabric, on a fabric loom and not in a usual carpet setting, resulting in a highly tactile finish. In strong New Zealand wool, Reap is an ideal addition to both contract and residential spaces. But Reap is more than just a rug for spaces with high durability requirements. The design, with its many different constructions, aims at an elegant and at the same time natural character. Reap comes with canvas corners and an eye-catching colour-contrasting stitch on all sides of the rug and is cut and finished to order and to any standard or custom size, making each rug unique.

The three news rugs will be presented at imm cologne, Paris and Stockholm Furniture Fair this January and February.

See the full Danskina rug collection here

Maharam has introduced a collection of bags that embody the ethos of ‘good design.’ With exceptional execution and attention to detail, Maharam Bags offer outstanding utility and practicality and will prove their versatility and longevity many times over.

World-renowned designers Konstantin Grcic, Jasper Morrison and Hella Jongerius each created a bag suited to their personal needs, and  manufactured using highly skilled and small-scale production based in the United States. The result is a growing collection that includes carryalls, messenger bags, carry-on bags and totes designed and made to Maharam’s incomparable standards.

Konstantic Grcic is known for his well-considered designs that have a humanist quality, and his Frame Bag and Tube Bag, both available in indigo, are lightweight, comfortable and casual. The Frame Bag is a versatile carryall in ripstop nylon with webbing lattice and one interior pocket, while the messenger-sized Tube Bag is ideal for essentials with an adjustable strap, two front pockets and one zipped compartment.

Taking a rational approach to design, Jasper Morrison’s products are characterised by clarity and utility. Morrison’s Amsterdam Bag is a simple and tasteful box tote with a rigid waxed-cotton canvas body and leather handles. Available in black with saddle, it has one interior pocket and is waterproof.

The Amsterdam Bag also served as the inspiration for Morrison’s Scamp Bag, a purposeful carry-on bag for frequent travel. The Scamp Bag, available in olive, is a discreet and well-resolved utilitarian box tote that is thoughtfully scaled with well-positioned pockets to make it the ideal travel companion.

The HJ Bag, named for its designer Hella Jongerius, is a simple and functional unisex shoulder bag for daily use. The Dutch designer fuses craft and industry, lo-tech and hi-tech production, and traditional and contemporary approaches, and her HJ Bag beautifully combines these seeming contradictions. The waxed-cotton canvas body has contrasting stitching and is left unlined to expose the construction. It has a collar printed with Jongerius’ Confetti pattern, and a leather handle, custom-made leather slide and handmade serrated leather bead add to the HJ Bag’s distinctive character. It is available in mustard, with an ivory collar printed with citrus, black and grey.

Living Edge is the exclusive Australian distributor of Maharam Bags.

This years winter fairs, including imm cologne and Maison&Objet, both help over January, followed by the Stockholm Furniture fair in February, were no exception for Kvadrat Maharam. 

If you missed out on the winter fair season, please enjoy our gallery of images below ..

David Caon's BLOC for Living Edge in partnership with us enjoyed much success, the national launch was a great way to conclude 2016. Here are some of the images from the BLOC roadshow that travelled through Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne. 

BLOC by CAON is a forward-thinking new workplace furniture system designed by David Caon in partnership with Living Edge and Kvadrat Maharam. Developed through intense research, the contemporary and adaptable furniture solution caters for the diverse activities, needs and settings of modern work life.

Industrial designer David Caon founded Sydney-based CAON in 2009 and has since worked on projects ranging from architecture and interiors to tableware and furnishings for the workplace and home. Having designed aircraft cabin seating in collaboration with Qantas, Caon understands the need for furniture that can comfortably go the distance. BLOC is a sophisticated system of modular furniture that is designed to support productivity in the workplace and facilitate the movement towards deconstructed office environments. 

The interchangeable modular components are designed for working, meeting and socialising and can be configured according to need and reconfigured according to whim. Conceived to serve workers in standing, seated or crouched positions, the system includes privacy pods and meetings pods, single and double workstations and breakout pods. Back and arm supports can double as solid work surfaces, and some arm units contain inner storage space for accessories and charging devices. Upholstered panels are also available for greater privacy and enhanced acoustics.

BLOC is composed of solid-foam modules upholstered in a selection of wool textiles by Kvadrat and Maharam that Caon researched and specified in close collaboration with Kvadrat Maharam Australia. The luxurious fabric was sepcified to mould to the curves of each element and naturally has high rub rates and durability to allow it to perform well under daily commercial use.

Twenty textile colour palettes ensure each piece is adaptable to the aesthetic and atmosphere of a multitude of workplaces, while subtle pattern and texture add a point of difference or focal point for each piece. The textile palettes are available at a variety of price points allowing BLOC to meet a range of budgets.

Australian customers will also appreciate that the product is manufactured in Australia, which translates to short lead times. Plus the simple-to-follow Kvadrat Maharam textile selections means all possible configurations look great and can be tailored to individual customers.

See the ful BLOC collection at Living Edge Showrooms nationally or visit the website here.

For Spring / Summer 2016, Mansur Gavriel is broadening its material palette with several Maharam textiles designed by Alexander Girard.

Departing from classic leather, Mansur Gavriel’s decision to bring these textiles back into fashion again speaks to the enduring power of Alexander Girard’s vision. Designed over a sixteen-year period spanning the 1950s and 60s, Lanalux, Mikado and Toostripe now accentuate four bags set to debut on September 14th at the Swiss Institute in SoHo. The new styles – including a flat, moon and volume clutch as well as a circle bag – will adorn models dressed in one-off garments made from the same materials as part of the label’s first official New York Fashion Week presentation. This limited-edition capsule collection will be available exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman in February.

Maharam has re-editioned twenty Girard designs to date as part of its ongoing Textiles of the 20th Century™ series. Dedicated to faithfully reissuing the work of great multidisciplinary designers past, the series connects multiple design movements—from the Wiener Werkstätte to the Bauhaus to midcentury modernism and beyond—through the designs of Anni Albers, Charles and Ray Eames, Verner Panton, and Gio Ponti, among others.

Interestingly, Girard’s textiles are among the most challenging to reissue as his command of the medium favored complex constructions and techniques, an intensity and variety of color, and unusual yarns. To ensure an accurate re-edition, Maharam works closely with Girard Studio, which was founded by the Girard family to preserve and promote the archive and design legacy of Alexander Girard.

Lanalux (1970) uses a three-ply fine micron wool yarn to achieve a rich homespun texture, Mikado (1954) features a stylized floral motif set against a bold checkerboard background, and Toostripe (1965) emphasizes graphic chromatic vibration. Collectively, these three textiles represent the breadth and diversity of Girard’s oeuvre. A highly prolific designer who was unhampered by contemporary dictums of style and taste, Girard produced over 300 textiles during his twenty-one years as the founding design director of Herman Miller’s textile division. The resulting body of work is staggering not only in sheer volume and creativity, but due to its fundamental qualities of beauty and usefulness, remains relevant today.

Bright Grid, Bright Angle, and Bright Cube are second in a series of products designed by Scholten & Baijings in collaboration with Maharam. Drawing upon Scholten & Baijings’ distinct visual language, the three Bright textiles epitomize the designers’ keen sense of color and singular approach to refined geometric patterning.

As with Blocks and Grid (2014), the essence of the Bright grouping lies in the inherent possibilities for combination and variation. With a unified palette of five colors apiece, the three textiles are designed to be used in tandem and to form new geometric relationships when combined. The patterns progress from a basic grid to a more complex formation: Bright Grid offers rigorous simplicity, Bright Angle cascades in an endless rhythm of obliquely bisected rectangles, and Bright Cube achieves layered depth through optical perspective. Rendered in a fluorescent spectrum of specially dyed nylon yarns developed with the Maharam Design Studio’s oversight, the patterns effectively map the three-dimensional forms to which they’re applied. The subtle textural contrast of lustrous nylon yarns against a matte cotton ground further enhances the sharp geometry and clear color story.

Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings founded Scholten & Baijings, Studio for Design, in Amsterdam in 2000. They move fluidly between art and design, and artisanal and industrial processes, to create a visually arresting body of work. Among their many clients are 1616 / Arita Japan, BMW Group/MINI, Established & Sons, Thomas Eyck, HAY, IKEA, Georg Jensen, Karimoku New Standard, and Moooi. Both their commissioned and independent work is collected and exhibited worldwide. They were awarded the ELLE Decoration International Design Award (EDIDA) for Young Designer Talent in 2011 and have twice been nominated for the Wallpaper* Designer of the Year Award (2011/2015). The studio’s first monograph, Reproducing Scholten & Baijings, published by Phaidon in February 2015, was written by Louise Schouwenberg, designed by Joost Grootens, and directed by Maharam.

For more, visit the Maharam website.

Umami is a durable upholstery fabric designed by Louise Sigvardt, which comes in three vibrant yet calm expressions.

Named after the fifth primary taste, all the versions of Umami are made from wool. Each is constructed with a different weaving method and, as result, has a distinctive surface structure.

Louise Sigvardt: ‘With Umami I wanted to create textiles, which reflect how we choose a piece of clothing. The colours are inspired by Scandinavian nature and the nuanced palettes of Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi.’

Thanks to its hardwearing material composition, Umami is well-suited to contract environments.

For more, visit the Kvadrat website.

The idea of dressing and the underlying layers that are accidentally or intentionally revealed provided the initial concept for the HJ bag by Hella Jongerius. From there, a continual process of revision and refinement unfolded from 2006 on, with occasional  returns to the drawing board. Ultimately, the Dutch designer landed on a simple and functional unisex shoulder bag for daily use, without forsaking her signature craft-like details. In her words, “The shape of the bag is archetypical and pragmatic. Sturdy on the outside but with a hidden treasure inside, only visible for the user.”

The first bag by Hella Jongerius, the HJ joins designs by Konstantin Grcic, Jasper Morrison and Klaartje Martens as the cornerstone of Maharam’s accessories collection. Developed in response to a brief that asked the designers to create bags that they would like to use, the collection is available through maharam.com and select retailers.

For more, visit the Maharam website.

Mi Casa and Casita come in a range of natural colours which incorporate hints of bolder notes, gentle greens and intense blues. The palette for the curtains is inspired by the beauty of the Catalonian landscape.

As Mi Casa and Casita are made of flame retardant Trevira CS, they are well-suited to contract environments. They also work well with other textiles, in particular Casa and Castillo also designed by Cristian Zuzunaga. 

The innovative work of Cristian Zuzunaga stands out for its use of colour, which is, in part, a reaction to the fact that many of us inhabit a world of black, white and grey. His designs explore colour as a means to ‘drive interaction between individuals and their surroundings, evoke emotions, and counterbalance negative ways of seeing and thinking’.

A firm believer in the power of collaboration, Christian Zuzunaga has worked with leading international brands including Danskina, Kvadrat, Faberge, Moroso and Ligne Roset. His work is regularly published and exhibited around the world.

For more, visit the Kvadrat website.

The finest interior designs can now be shaped from the ground up, thanks to the world-renowned rugs of Danskina. These exclusive, handmade and made-to-order rugs bring the highest level of distinction to interior spaces and are now available in Australia and New Zealand

Founded in the Netherlands in 1973 by Piet and Ina Van Eiijken, Danskina soon gained a strong reputation among contemporary design-focused retailers, architects, and interior designers for its unique hand-detailing and premium-quality materials.

Danskina is now under the joint leadership of longtime partners Kvadrat and Maharam.

All Danskina rugs are produced by skilled makers in the Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, Nepal, New Zealand and India and are characterised by distinctive texture, innovative structure and a unique use of colour.

Outstanding design direction

When Kvadrat and Maharam took over joint leadership of Danskina their first step was to appoint a new design director and the Dutch design icon, Hella Jongerius, was a natural choice.

Hella Jongerius has been a leading figure in the product design world since her early work for Dutch design collective, Droog, and has been valued collaborator of Maharam’s since 2002. Hella Jongerius’ designs are created from her Berlin-based studio, Jongeriuslab, and her work is characterised by a keen focus on colour and materials innovation. In addition to her role as Design Director for Danskina, Hella Jongerius’ clients include Vitra, Artek and KLM and her designs appear in the permanent collection of renowned museums, such as the V&A in London.

Blending innovation with tradition

Hella Jongerius’ first pieces for Danskina include ‘Bold’, ‘Duotone’ and ‘Multitone’. All three designs are made from 100 percent pure wool by skilled weavers from India and New Zealand. Thick, warm and highly tactile, they each feature an appealing irregularity due to their beautiful handmade imperfections.

 “For me, quality resides in best exploiting the tactile and visual qualities of materials and pushing the boundaries of technology,” she says. “It is found in unusual combinations, in the colours, structures, and surprising details, and it lies in the optimal use of ingenious high-tech and low-tech elements, and the use of tried-and-tested, traditional production techniques.”

Colour and form

Under Hella Jongerius’ direction, colour continues to play a key role in Danskina rugs. “Colour contributes to the feeling of comfort and atmosphere, and colour is also an important organisational principle,” she explains.

Every Danskina rug is based on a clear colour concept and the perception of colour is created in different ways “We will add colour effects during the dyeing and spinning process in an uncontrolled manner or we will use ingenious and controlled dyeing methods to create colour placement during the production process,” says Hella Jongerius.

Danskina rugs bring a whole new design language to commercial and residential spaces. They represent a timeless celebration of handcrafted beauty and will leave a beautiful, long-lasting mark on the Australian design world.

Danskina is available in Australia exclusively through Kvadrat Maharam and Hub Furniture and in New Zealand through Kvadrat Maharam and Simon James Design.

www.danskina.com

In an effort to provide design excellence at all price points, Maharam introduces Mode: a high-performance, vibrantly colored textile offering the look and feel of wool.

Heavier-denier yarns create a substantial hopsack weave in lush two-tone colorations. A cross-dye method renders two variously luminous and contrasting colors with both heathered and solid effects. Combining principles of utility and luxury in a versatile, modern surface, Mode merits its expansive palette of forty-three colorways. The Maharam Design Studio focused on a spectrum of lighter tints and deep brights that are both useful and fashion-forward.

Although Mode offers a comfortable, wool-like texture, it’s constructed to provide stretch and ease of application. Exceeding 100,000 double rubs, Mode is suitable for upholstery as well as systems and upholstered-wall applications.

In keeping with Maharam’s commitment to continually reduce the environmental impact of its products, Mode is constructed of 80% post-consumer recycled polyester: fibers manufactured from waste that’s been used by the consumer, disposed of, and diverted from landfills. Mode is additionally Greenguard and Greenguard Gold Certified. 

See the full Mode collection here

Herman Miller and Maharam are proud to be global sponsors of the first major retrospective on Alexander Girard. Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe that opened at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany in March 2016.

Trained as an architect, but proficient in nearly all design disciplines, Alexander Girard was introduced to Herman Miller through Charles Eames and George Nelson. Believing that “fabrics are a building material,” “as much a part of a room as are the conventional materials of brick, glass, wood, and plaster,” Girard envisioned Herman Miller’s textile program—which he was the founding director of from 1952 until 1973—as a flexible toolkit offering endless variation. Unhampered by contemporary dictums of style and taste, he designed over 300 textiles from his outpost in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The resulting body of work is staggering in its sheer volume and creativity, and thanks to fundamental qualities of beauty and usefulness, remains surprisingly relevant today.

Maharam is a longstanding supporter of Girard’s legacy, having reissued twenty of his designs and counting as part of its Textiles of the 20th Century™ collection. Dedicated to faithfully reissuing the textiles of great multidisciplinary designers past, this ongoing series includes the work of Anni Albers, Charles and Ray Eames, Josef Hoffman, George Nelson, Verner Panton, and Gio Ponti, among others.

Alexander Girard (1907–1993) had a profound impact on 20th century visual culture. In addition to his prolific output at Herman Miller, Girard is noted for his all-encompassing designs of restaurants La Fonda del Sol (1960) and L’Etoile (1966); the Miller House in Columbus, Indiana (1957); and Braniff Airlines (1965). An avid collector of folk art, Girard donated over 100,000 pieces to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, where he designed the permanent exhibition, Multiple Visions: A Common Bond.

Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe will explore his oeuvre through never-before-shown textiles, furnishings, models, small objects, interiors, personal documents, and drawings, while highlighting his inspirations and influences. At the Vitra Design Museum from March 12 through January 29, 2017 before traveling to the United States, the exhibition is designed by the London studio, Raw Edges, and is accompanied by a 500-plus-page catalogue.

In June, Maharam and the Serpentine Galleries will introduce new wallpapers by Beatriz González, Alex Katz, Jean Nouvel, and Raqs Media Collective. Part of the Maharam Serpentine Galleries Wallpaper collection—an uneditioned series created by esteemed artists and architects under the curatorial direction of the Serpentine’s Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist—the four new designs follow upon the success of the inaugural offering by Ai Weiwei, John Baldessari, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Toyo Ito, SANAA, Rosemarie Trockel, and Lawrence Weiner that debuted during Milan Design Week and launched at Frieze New York 2015.

Reprising the concept of activating key public spaces throughout the fair, three of the Maharam Serpentine Galleries Wallpapers will be installed at Frieze New York: Marc Camille Chaimowicz’s Pavilion and Beatriz González’s Wiwa Stories will greet visitors at the north and south entrances respectively, while John Baldessari’s (Clock/Pizza - Turquoise) will bridge El Rey and Roberta’s, two centrally located cafés.

Frieze and Maharam’s close relationship has resulted in multiple collaborations in recent years, including a 180’-long installation of Shoes by Thomas Bayrle in the entrance corridor of Frieze London 2012 and the recreation of Al’s Grand Hotel, a 1971 project by Allen Ruppersberg, that saw a functioning hotel embedded within Frieze New York 2014. At last year’s New York edition, John Baldessari’s (Nose/Popcorn – Yellow/Green), SANAA’s Watercolor Flowers, Lawrence Weiner’s SAIL ON, and Marc Camille Chaimowicz’s Pavilion were situated at the north entrance, auditorium vestibule, Marlow & Sons café, and south VIP desk accordingly.

Like Maharam Digital Projects, the wallpapers reflect a range of subject matter and styles while utilizing advanced digital printing techniques for complex, high-resolution imagery in a full-color spectrum. Scale is the distinguishing feature: Maharam Serpentine Galleries Wallpapers reflect a traditional framework of modestly sized repeats and a conventional 27” width. Available by the roll at the Serpentine Galleries shop in London or by the linear yard through Maharam, the wallpapers are intended for both commercial and residential use. Durable and easy to maintain, the collection is printed with UV-resistant inks on a washable, latex-reinforced substrate.

The launch is well timed not only with Frieze, but also with an upcoming exhibition by Alex Katz to be held this summer at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. Featuring recent works along with those from throughout his career, the exhibition opens June 2 and runs through September 11. It will be followed by a solo exhibition by Marc Camille Chaimowicz in the fall.

A first for both DenFair and the venue, The Kvadrat Maharam Restaurant was defined by layers of knotted textile screening made from Kvadrat Divina and framed with an entrance dressed in Maharam Layers Vineyard Large by Hella Jongerius. The installation was the result of a collaboration between Kvadrat Maharam and Melbourne artist Sarah Parkes of Small-Town and follows Kvadrat Maharam’s longstanding support of design initiatives on a local and global scale which regularly fosters talent from local designers and craftspeople.

Products used in this installation included

Kvadrat Divina 876, Divina MD 713, Divina MD 673, Divina MD 203, Divina 106, Divina MD 613

Maharam Layers Vineyard Large by Hella Jongerius

Leading Australian design and manufacturing brand Didier has selected the Kvadrat Maharam range for their latest collection, First BIte.

The First Bite collection is inspired by the dreams of beautiful food, colour bursts and fine dessert extravagance and includes furniture, rugs and lighting products that have been carefully considered, designed and engineered over the past 2 years.

For each piece sold from the First Bite collection $10 will be donated to Second Bite an organisation endeavouring to provide all Australians access to fresh, healthy food.

The First Bite collection is upholstered in the following Kvadrat Maharam products

Messenger 072
 
Steelcut 2, 820
 
Steelcut 2, 255
 
Steelcut 2, 110
 
Divina 3, 636
 
Divina 3, 966

The Akira Minagawa collection for Kvadrat is characterised by refined patterns, detailed embroidery and sophisticated nuances. It brings together three upholstery textiles and a curtain.

As the collection reflects, Akira Minagawa often gets his inspiration by observing nature, life and society, and always starts his creative process by hand. He depicts scenes from nature through motifs that are reflected in textiles using a range of different techniques, such as embroidery, weaving and printing. In this embroidered and woven collection, every stitch of embroidery expresses the uniqueness of Minagawa’s pen strokes. This does more than just bring the visual storytelling of Akira Minagawa to life. Every textile in the collection offers a wealth of delicate details, elegant shapes and tactile surfaces.

In addition, all the designs in the collection reference a natural landscape and their motifs and colours subtly interact. Consequently, they complement each other well and provide a host of opportunities for mixing and matching.

While the designs in the collection are part of the same family, each is distinctively individual. Some are more graphic; others have a more organic expression. They also feature different techniques, which range from the simple to the complex.

All four designs are well-suited to contract environments and private spaces alike.

Woollen Forest Nap is a simple upholstery textile.  Constructed with a plain weave, it can be described as the base textile in the Akira Minagawa collection.

Forest Nap comes in an array of colours. These range from understated natural hues to bolder notes like bright red.  Forest Nap combines well with the patterned textiles in the collection, and is particularly suited to cover large surfaces.

See the full collection here

LANDSCAPE

Landscape is inspired by artists’ attempts to render vistas of the natural world in paint. Designer Hella Jongerius has incorporated different yarns, pile heights and special edges in finer wool to give the feeling of ‘a paint brush on a canvas’. The rug combines organic expanses with patterned swaths in an abstract simulation of unfolding terrain.

The melange yarn used to create the rug is spun from natural linen and wool, tufted in deep pile by craftsmen in India. The depth allows the melange to float, accentuating its intriguing texture and supreme tactility.

COCOON

Cocoon brings unexpected dimension to the classic woven rug. Designer Hella Jongerius sought to ‘create a layered and tactile woollen landscape with soft knots’, which are accentuated by a generous border. 

Long, pure wool yarn has been spun from two colours in either statement contrast or calmer tone-on-tone combinations. It is then felted for a smooth and comfortable texture before being knotted into irregular clusters. The result is both dramatic and durable.

Cocoon is woven by artisans in India.

CROSS COLLECTION

In the Cross collection, Hella Jongerius has reinterpreted the traditional tufted rug in a way that creates unique visual interaction between the rug and the floor underneath.

There are three designs in the collection: Cross Cut, Cross Border and Cross. In all three designs the tactile tufted surface is undercut by a strong silhouette that’s equal parts contemporary and comforting. Vivid viscose threads are spun with new wool, creating a melange effect.

The series begins with Cross Cut, a design in which the whole surface of the rug is formed as an open grid, the geometric lines merging into an organic pattern at one end. The result is a playful, highly tactile and welcoming statement rug that creates endless opportunities for interior design and innovative layering ideas.

The design of Cross Border features a more solid surface area, with the cutaway edges at two corners allowing the floor to be glimpsed underneath.

The simplicity of Cross has a slightly more traditional appeal, combining a graphic silhouette with a highly tactile construction. A cutaway effect of block fringes on the edging complete the rug.

As well as muted natural tones and greys, the Cross series colour palette includes bolder tones to bring extra warmth and drama to the designs. Hand-tufted by craftsmen in India using yarn spun from luxurious new wool and viscose, the Cross rugs’ specially developed anti-slip backing makes them suitable for a wide range of floors. 

Designed in response to the blurring lines between home and work, the AG x Cult 2016 Collection presents a democratic range of furniture and lighting that exudes an organic and relaxed warmth. Suitable for residential and commercial spaces, the collection includes new product families that are honest in practicality and rich in simplicity. Existing designs have also been reimagined, using new materials and finishes. Many of the new pieces showcase a technical and mechanical edge, a reflection of Cult’s investment in new tools and technologies that allow Adam Goodrum to flex his industrial design muscles and experiment with Aluminum – a versatile material with great modularity. From elegant lounge furniture to modular shelving with endless possibility, the 2016 collection is reductive in form, honest in materiality and timeless in style. 

In partnership with Kvadrat-Maharam, Cult together with Australian furniture designer Adam Goodrum present three curated fabric cards for the upholstery of the 2016 AG x Cult Collection. Featuring a selection of rich velvets, textured wool blends and painterly irregular weaves, the cards include fabrics suitable for a wide variety of commercial and residential interiors. The colour palette is both fresh and directional, yet reassuringly classic and rich. This partnership between Kvadrat-Maharam, Cult and Adam Goodrum celebrates a shared respect for humble craftsmanship, tailored detailing and honest high-quality materials. 

A firm believer that every environment is defined by the objects within it, Goodrum challenges himself to design pieces that justify their existence through their stories, detailing and the personality they bring to a space. Likening the upholstery process to dressmaking, Goodrum sees great transformative power in ‘dressing the form’. He shares, “Good design is about a timeless approach to form and scale; creating objects that can continue to be reinterpreted in new environments for decades to come. Upholstery provides endless opportunities to invigorate objects – a new ‘skin’ gives each piece a unique character and I love seeing my designs upholstered in unexpected and inspired ways.” 

Featured Product 

Fat Tulip Sofa (2.5 Seater) in Kvadrat Vidar 2 (222)  

Fat Tulip Armchair in Kvadrat Hero (311)