State Library Victoria (SLV) opened in February 1856 as a place of learning and discovery for all Victorians. It is Australia’s oldest public library, and the fourth most-visited library in the world. Since its opening, the SLV has grown to span an entire city block and to evolve to meet the changing needs of the community. It was recently refurbished by Architectus in collaboration with Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects as part of the library’s ambitious Vision 2020 project. This transformation renewed the library’s heritage spaces, created new spaces for children, teenagers and events, and provided additional public space for visitors, researchers and students.

With more people and amenity, comes more noise. The refurbishment required a method of sound absorption that would not disrupt the heritage structure or aesthetic of the SLV. Kvadrat Soft Cells Broadline panels provided a discreet solution with 267 square metres of acoustic panels integrated into the ceiling design of the Swanston Street Welcome Zone, Ian Potter Queen’s Hall and Isabella Fraser Room.

Swanston Street Welcome Zone is grand and inviting foyer and the library’s original entrance. Set within the illuminated coffered ceiling, Kvadrat Soft Cells Broadline panels are inconspicuous while absorbing the sound that reverberates from more than 5,000 visitors passing through the entrance each day.

A majestic Italianate marble staircase at the end of the foyer leads to the impressive Ian Potter Queen’s Hall. Open to the public for the first time since 2003, Ian Potter Queen’s Hall is now a reading room by day and event space by night. Acoustic panels edged with strip lighting provide illumination and noise absorption above the tables and bookshelves, and the plain colouration – to match the 1860s paint scheme – helps dramatise the original filigree-patterned skylights and gallery friezes.

The Isabella Fraser Room, accessed via a separate entry, is an opulent event venue with classical styling, coffered ceilings and herringbone parquetry floors. As throughout the SLV, the ceiling panels are upholstered with Kvadrat Mi Casa textile, achieving a class A sound absorption and a 0.95 NRC rating. The appointed contractor, LL Installations fixed the Soft Cells to the ceiling with magnets, a standard attachment method that minimises the penetrations required for installation, as well as the impact to the heritage-listed building.

Architectus and Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s renewal of the SLV has revealed and celebrated the history and architecture of the iconic building. Taking a light hand to the refurbishment, new insertions, such as the Soft Cells, are discreetly integrated into the architecture, respecting its historical legacy and significance. 

Discover Kvadrat Soft Cells here 

Febrik, founded in 2013 by Renee Merckx and Jos Pelders, is a specialist in knitted textiles for a wide range of applications. Febrik’s knits complement the Kvadrat collection, which led to the two brands joining forces in 2018.

The Kvadrat Febrik collections are built on mutual expertise and visionary creativity, elevating each other and blending naturally together. They provide an immersive scale of structures, textures and patterns, ranging from discreet to dynamic, and are perfectly suited for layering colours. 

Industrially knitted textiles are commonly used in clothing, however knitting is a relatively unexplored textile technique for upholstery. Recognising this potential opportunity, Febrik developed a special yarn and challenged the existing machinery to produce strong, durable knits that meet the requirements for interiors and furniture.

Australian and New Zealand wool

Febrik is made using the finest Australian and New Zealand wool, with the yarns spun and blended with synthetic fibres to achieve high pilling and abrasion results. Wool, however, is always the main fibre so as to preserve the material’s inherent properties of being easy to clean, resistant to flames and ecologically friendly.

Benefits of knitted textiles

The major benefit of Febrik’s knitted textiles is its natural stretch. This makes it ideal for creating smooth upholstery as the textile’s memory for its original state prevents it from sag.

Also of great benefit, the process of knitting allows different kinds of surfaces, patterns and three-dimensional effects to be created, adding texture and visual interest to furniture and wall panel applications.

Colours are as important as the look, feel and performance of the textile, and is a delicate process of careful curation. Each Febrik textile has a strong colour expression on its own, and work in perfect harmony with Kvadrat textiles to provide an evenly balanced palette.

Latest collection - Febrik Planum by Raw Color

Planum is a knitted upholstery textile with a refined woven expression and a smooth, soft surface. It comes in curiosity-inspiring colours crafted by Dutch Design Studio Raw Color.

Planum textile is constructed using a simple double-knit with a predominantly woollen surface, resulting in a subtle matt lustre and a natural, dry handle.

Raw Color took a collection of three-dimensional objects as a starting point for Planum’s versatile colour scale. The studio explored diverse directions and shades before selecting 21 tones from 350 hand-painted samples.

“We decided to develop the colour palette based on hand-painted swatches. This enabled us to create shades that are less expected and uncommon.” – Raw Color.

As a knitted textile, Planum features excellent stretchability, making it ideal for upholstering organic-shaped forms while minimising the number of seams. The textile combines well with the more voluminous, three-dimensional textiles in the Kvadrat Febrik collection, and is suitable for contract and private use.

Learn more about FEBRIK here.

Colline 2 is a three-dimensional upholstery textile designed by master weaver Frans Dijkmeijer, which has an intricate structure that stands out as a relief on its surface. Simple yet complex in construction, it comes in an updated colour scale created by Giulio Ridolfo.

The construction of Colline 2 – named after the French word for hill – reflects Frans Dijkmeijer’s many years of experimentation with materials and weaving structures. Characterised by pronounced depth and volume, it features an organic pattern of precise squares that play across its surface. Colline 2 is primarily made of wool which is anchored onto an acrylic base. During the textile’s innovative manufacturing process, the wool rises where it is not attached, whereas the acrylic shrinks.

The new palette by Giulio Ridolfo complements the textile’s dynamic yet understated expression. ”Colline is a masterwork from Frans. I aimed to create a scale that ranges from clearto obscure (light to dark), and added natural, earthy blended tones to it. As the colours came out of the loom, I immediately felt comfortable and happy with them. Just like climbing a ‘colline’ on a spring day).” Giulio Ridolfo

Frans Dijkmeijer

The late Frans Dijkmeijer is recognised as one of Europe’s finest weavers. He perceived materials, colours and textures as an organic whole, creating woven textiles which, despite technical complexity, radiate a logical simplicity. Intriguingly, he brought a scientific approach to his work – his studio was something of a laboratory.

Giulio Ridolfo

Italian ‘colour master’ Giulio Ridolfo works as a colour advisor to many of the world’s leading interior, clothing and footwear companies. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources such as photography, art, and fashion, Ridolfo gathers images colours, patterns and textures and then combines these different elements and expressions until he creates something new.

Explore the full Colline 2 collection here 

British fashion designer Paul Smith approached Maharam in 2002 after seeing I Morosi alla Finestra exhibited at the Gio Ponti retrospective at the Design Museum in London. Attracted by the whimsy of the textile pattern designed by Gio Ponti in 1930, Smith proposed using I Morosi as a lining in his men’s jackets. Soon after, he adopted various Maharam archival textiles for shoes, hats and bags.

Having provided textiles to be used in the Paul Smith collection, Maharam invited the fashion designer to join a cadre of collaborators, including Andrée Putman, Hella Jongerius and Bruce Mau, and to focus his wit on the world of upholstery textiles. Referencing Paul Smith’s light-hearted take on traditional British tailoring, the 2003  introduction of Bespoke Stripe by Paul Smith marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the fashion designer and the Maharam Design Studio.

For nearly two decades, the relationship between Paul Smith and Maharam has grown to include nearly forty designs for application as upholstery, wallcovering, and Maharam Digital Projects along with collaborative projects, such as a partnership with Carl Hansen & Søn to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hans J. Wegner’s birth. Paul Smith personally selected his favourite Wegner pieces, including the iconic Shell, Wishbone and Wing chairs, and upholstered them with Big Stripe and Stripes by Paul Smith for a limited-edition release. For a recent collaboration with Herman Miller, Paul Smith reimagined a collection of mid-century seating designed by Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Ward Bennett with his own tailored, whimsical patterns.

When asked the secret behind the enduring creative exchange between Paul Smith and Maharam, Mary Murphy, Maharam’s Senior Vice President of Design, explained, “He’s just so exuberant, and he’s always got all these ideas going on constantly… I think he represents design being who you are; it’s not a career for him, it’s his life.”

According to Paul Smith: “I’ve been designing furniture fabric with Maharam for many years and I’m delighted that it’s been so well-received. It’s used in theatres, in cinemas and by a lot of famous design companies all over the world. I’m delighted to be able to choose furniture to apply the fabric onto.”

Building on eighteen years of collaboration between Maharam and Paul Smith, the arrival of the latest upholstery collaborations of Songbird and Wool Check demonstrate Paul Smith’s ability to modernise traditional references through imaginative applications of scale and colour.

Songbird is a spirited departure from Smith’s signature stripe. Beginning with a study of English botanical motifs from Smith’s personal collection, Songbird depicts a highly animated assortment of perched and singing finches within an arrangement of lilies, peonies and hibiscus. A senior member of the Maharam Design Studio synthesised the study as a hand-drawn pattern and that was specially woven to create the illusion of three dimensions. Graphic lines of alternating matte and lustrous yarns lend movement to the silhouetted fauna,

Wool Check takes a modern approach to traditional applications of plaid and is a return to Paul Smith’s signature exploration of colour. Guided by intricate tonal gradation, an expansive repeat of large-scale colour blocking emulates one of Smith’s designs for apparel, while emphasising painterly transitions between highly specialised tones such as rose, carob, petal, mulch and ginger within a single colourway. Wool Check is woven by a specialised resource in the United Kingdom, and makes use of rich woollen spun yarns, resulting in a rustic, warmly textured cloth that reinforces the pattern’s tailored origins.

Explore the complete Maharam Paul Smith collection here

Photography Credit

Images of Paul Smith by Nick Ballon 

Since 2014, the collaboration between Kvadrat and fashion designer Raf Simons has brought a fresh sensibility to textiles for the home.

Drawing on his innate sense of style as well as wide-ranging interests in modern art, design, music, graphics and architecture, Raf Simons has developed a distinctive vision for the interior. His bold and sure-handed explorations of colour, texture and pattern have extended across an expanding suite of textiles and accessories created with Kvadrat. Harmonious colour themes – be they bold, muted or neutral – have built up across the range as it has evolved. Textiles from across the Kvadrat/Raf Simons collection can be used alongside one another to produce richly nuanced combinations within an interior scheme.

Distinctively textured designs include long fibred mohairs reminiscent of sheepskin, short pile velour, and soft irregular bouclés. Bright colours appear as highlights within flecked and thinly striped designs, as well as solid, single-colour textiles and in soft throws. Patterns range from bold stripes to subtle Pointillist-inspired dots. Cushions in a variety of sizes and textiles make it easy to achieve rich combinations of complementary and contrasting elements. Speaking of his collaboration with Kvadrat, Simons explains, “I was fascinated by how the colouration and weaving processes in fashion textiles don’t have the same limitations as those of furnishing textiles. Working with Kvadrat, we’ve been translating the subtle colouration and texture that you’d find perhaps in a tweed or bouclé into textiles suitable for use in furniture. Because of the dense weave that is needed for furniture, the colouration becomes even more interesting, with almost a painterly impact.”

VIEW THE COMPLETE RAF KVADRAT / RAF SIMONS COLLECTION HERE

ABOUT RAF SIMONS

Born in Belgium in 1968, Simons studied industrial design in Genk. Inspired by the work of designers such as Martin Margiela, he moved to Antwerp, where the head of the Fashion Department at the city’s Royal Academy encouraged him to start his own label without further study. Launched in 1995, Raf Simons menswear—informed both by classic tailoring and youth culture—had a huge impact on the style of the decade.

In 2005 Simons became artistic director of the Jil Sander label, which under his tenure became known for its vital, sophisticated modernism. In 2012 he was named creative director of Dior Women, a position that he held until late in 2015. During his time as Chief Creative Officer of American fashion label Calvin Klein from 2016 to 2018, he has been awarded Designer of the Year 2017 for both his Menswear and Womenswear collections and for his Womenswear collection in 2018. In April 2020, Raf Simons joined the Prada brand as Co-Creative Director, working in partnership with Miuccia Prada.

A passionate collector of contemporary art and modern design, Simons’ aesthetic is often informed by his admiration for art and he regularly engages in interdisciplinary collaborations.

Kvadrat Maharam Australia are excited to be supporting a new initiative by leading Australian design brand Dowel Jones for Melbourne Design Week 2020.

New Model by Dowel Jones, in partnership with Kvadrat Maharam, will present 9 Hour Factory, a one-day only live making bag and accessory installation as part of the design festival. 

Visitors to the installation will be guided through fabric selection and fitting before watching while a customised bag or accessory is made in front of them from remnant Kvadrat Maharam textiles sourced from manufacturers and upholsterers across Melbourne.

New Model represents a new way of working. Established as an extension of Dowel Jones, New Model is interested primarily in utilising surplus, remnant and waste materials. With the majority of production utilising only these reclaimed materials, hyper-transparency of any new resources used is achieved as they are coloured fluorescent green.

9 Hour Factory bookings take approximately one hour and include two stages:

Consultation
Choose a 1 Hour Bag or accessory, select fabric from a broad range of Kvadrat Maharam textiles, then customise the handle length to suit your needs.

Making
Watch as our team of sewers and cutters construct your bag while you wait; you’ll walk away on the day with your own truly unique piece.
 

The New Model project is a new initiative by Dowel Jones in collaboration with Soft Serve Studio, which aims to produce interior pieces made entirely from remnant and waste materials.

For more information please click here

Remix 3 is an elegant upholstery textile distinguished by exceptional depth of colour, designed by Giulio Ridolfo. It comes in 23 new hues, adding to an already expansive palette which now offers a total of 72 sophisticated colourways.

Remix 3 looks unicoloured from a distance but reveals subtle details and colour contrasts when viewed close-up. The textile features a tight, minimalistic weave, and derives its lively colour play from a combination of two different mélange yarns, which each combine up to three hues.

The new colours – carefully selected from 2600 samples– are inspired by an extensive study of traditional Indigo dyeing undertaken by Giulio Ridolfo on his travels. Centred around deep combinations of blues and rich natural reds, they also include subtly coloured neutrals.

Giulio Ridolfo: “Intuition, knowledge and respect for mother nature were key for the process of dyeing with natural Indigo. The only way to translate this into Western organised dyeing processes was by working on a reduced but resonating colour range of yarns, on a scale from red to blue. Working on this was a wonderful journey, during which the essential yarn of Remix was fundamental for creating the desired shades of blue and other naturals.”

Versatile Remix 3 is suitable for both contract and private use. It is very durable and, as a result, offers a long-life span. Furthermore, it has a high content of renewable fibres and is certified according to the EU Ecolabel. It is appropriate for those looking for a textile with a reduced environmental impact; for instance, architects or interior designers working with LEED-certified buildings.

Explore Remix 3 here

Kvadrat Maharam Australia are proud to be supporting leading Australian furniture designer Helen Kontouris and the National Gallery of Victoria to provide upholstery textiles for seating in the Great Hall. 

NGV's Great Hall is a vast and expansive space with a stained glass ceiling measuring 60m in length (the largest in the Southern Hemisphere) created by Leonard French in 1968. This stunning space combined with a simple childs toy would form the inspiration for Kontouris' Bauhaus Seating System. 

"After receiving the commission, I recall laying down on the floor in the Great Hall, which is a common sight with visitors, to absorb the entirety of the stained glass ceiling. I laid there thinking about the intricacies of the stained glass and how beautiful the rich colours of red, blue, purple, and yellow were against the thick black linework traversing across the glass ceiling, as well as the simple square, circle, and triangular forms".

"When I returned to the office, I opened a box set of timber blocks I would spend hours playing with as a child," recalls Kontouris. "They were painted in gorgeous tones of green, orange, red, yellow, and blue, and I would sit and create small wooden buildings and furniture with them for hours at a time. As I grew older, this set of wooden blocks would go with me wherever I moved, never letting them go or understanding why they meant so much to me and why I wouldn't part with them.

"Then I discovered that these simple timber blocks were the creation of Alma Seidhoff-Buscher, a graduate of the Bauhaus movement, and created for children to explore."

"Inspired by the thick line work in the NGV's Great Hall stained glass ceiling and the simplicity of form from Seidhoff-Buscher's Bauhaus building blocks, I imagined somewhat mirroring the ceiling and bringing the Bauhaus graphic line work and shapes to life within the space.

All the elements of the Bauhaus collection are characterised by their compact, gently curved, visually bold, and soft quilted forms, creating a sophisticated variety of configurations. The diverse palette of seating includes the addition of intersections of lines expressing a graphic dimension to the collection to suit a flexible and inviting range, ideally suited to small or vast open-plan interior spaces.

Slow and careful consideration of every design detail brings together the masterfully stitched detailing and plump, luxurious foam densities, creating a refined and richly textured dimension to the collection.

Representing dedication and patience with a strong return to skilled craftsmanship, each seating element comes together cohesively and fluidly.

Bauhaus sees creativity at its foundation with the freedom to explore singular or multiple compositions, creating asymmetrical, irregular forms, linear arrangements, or curved formations, encouraging reconfiguration of seating elements defining the needs of a space. Each seating model has been carefully designed to blend contrasting and complementary combinations to support either private or social areas within a shared space.

Helen Kontouris partnered with Kvadrat Maharam to select a range of textiles from their Febrik Husk, Maharam Messenger, Kvadrat Steelcut Trio, Kvadrat Canvas and Kvadrat Rime collections.

Speaking of the Kvadrat Maharam Collection Kontouris added "We selected Kvadrat Maharam textiles for this project because of the diversity within the collection's vibrant colour palettes and richness in varying textures. It enabled us to bring together a cohesive textile selection, referencing the colours of the Bauhaus movement and the brilliant saturation of stained glass colours in the ceiling of the Great Hall."

The Bauhaus collection is manufactured in Australia by Len www.lenfurniture.com

October 2018

In collaboration since 2002, Paul Smith and Maharam have generated a vibrant range of textiles that translate traditional suiting concepts to interiors: reinterpreting quintessential apparel motifs like houndstooth, plaid, polka dots, and stripes through idiosyncratic combinations of color. Now the two entities are partnering on an exclusive assortment of iconic pieces from the Herman Miller Collection that give new meaning to Smith’s “classics with a twist” approach. Launching at Herman Miller’s Tokyo flagship store on October 1, an exhibit will showcase this concise selection of midcentury designs reimagined by Smith in alternately tailored, whimsical, and artful textiles.

Among the five pieces are three instantly recognizable styles by Charles and Ray Eames, including the Eames Sofa Compact, which originated in the 1940s as a built-in design for the Eameses’ own Pacific Palisades home. The current freestanding version, which is perfectly scaled for small spaces  but still comfortably seats three, has been in continuous production since 1954. Its sleek, rectilinear frame now provides an ideal canvas for Smith’s latest textile, Blended Stripe, an uninterrupted ombre that pairs light neutrals with cool shades of turquoise, cobalt and navy blue. A fusion of pattern  
and texture, Blended Stripe is woven in a dense cotton epinglé construction that’s notable for its fine loops, low pile, matte finish, and cool hand. 

The Eames Molded Plywood Chair is well known for using the same innovative technology pioneered by the Eameses during World War II. (Commissioned by the US Navy, they developed lightweight plywood splints, stretchers and glider shells formed by heat and pressure.) After the war, this same technology was applied to making high-quality chairs that could be affordably mass-produced. Sculpted to support the human body, the Eames Molded Plywood Chair is suitable for homes and businesses alike. Here its slim profile is enhanced by an application of Mingled Plaid by Paul Smith.  A spacious windowpane plaid woven of worsted wool, Mingled Plaid’s dove gray ground lifts the chair’s white ash frame while injections of citron and magenta introduce a modern, fashion-forward take on Scottish heritage. 

Similarly, the Eames Molded Plastic Chair with a chrome Eiffel Tower base gets a graphic revamp courtesy of Dots by Paul Smith. Based on a woven silk necktie featured in his Spring/Summer 2017 menswear collection, Dots juxtaposes a miniature houndstooth with a bold polka dot rendered in lustrous mercerized cotton, yielding material contrast and a deep sense of overlaid space. This distinctly playful yet understated design underscores Smith’s and the Eameses’ shared penchant for practical, adaptable designs infused with an undeniable sense of curiosity and fun. The Molded Plastic Chair’s single-shell form, (originally manufactured in fiberglass in 1950), epitomizes the Eames tenet, “the best for the most for the least.”

Conversely, the Envelope Chair, designed by Ward Bennett in 1966 and now manufactured by Geiger, is all business in Bespoke Stripe by Paul Smith. The Envelope’s minimal, welded tubular steel frame is tautly wrapped by Smith’s first joint effort with Maharam. Designed in 2003, Bespoke Stripe embeds ribbons of color within a classic menswear pinstripe. Featuring a smooth worsted wool construction that’s just heavier than suiting weight, Bespoke Stripe is woven in the United Kingdom. The sporadic placement of stripes across the textile’s full width allows for, in the bespoke tradition, the opportunity to customize how fabric meets furniture. 

The concept of enabling uniqueness—often seen in unexpected or hidden details throughout the clothing he designs—is captured in the application of Smith’s Herringbone Stripe to George Nelson’s whimsical Marshmallow Sofa (1956). Composed of eighteen separate cushions that appear to float on a steel frame, the Marshmallow makes a statement in any setting. Herringbone Stripe continues the theme of men’s haberdashery with a toothy wool herringbone providing a textural foil for colorful bands of lustrous sateen. Vivid continuous and intermittent stripes are positioned at random intervals, creating a formal yet spirited effect.

The collaboration between Paul Smith and Maharam began in 2002 after Smith discovered I Morosi alla Finestra (The Lovers at the Window) at a Gio Ponti retrospective at the Design Museum in London. (Designed in 1930, this finely woven, figurative silk window covering was reissued by Maharam in 2002 as part of its ongoing Textiles of the 20th Century™ collection.) Smith’s request to repurpose I Morosi alla Finestra as a jacket lining was met with a reciprocal invitation to design a textile of his own. Since then, Paul Smith and the Maharam Design Studio have produced more than twenty-five imaginative textiles for seating and wallcovering alike—from a plethora of inimitable signature stripes to a series of photorealistic game-themed prints. When asked the secret behind their enduring creative exchange, Mary Murphy, Maharam’s senior vice president of design, explains “He’s just so exuberant, and he’s always got all these ideas going on constantly.” She continues, “I think he represents design being who you are; it’s not a career for him, it’s his life.”

According to Paul Smith: “I’ve been designing furniture fabric with Maharam for many years and I’m delighted that it’s been so well-received. It’s used in theatres, in cinemas and by a lot of famous  design companies all over the world. I’m delighted to be able to choose furniture to apply the fabric onto. To see the Paul Smith and Maharam designs on some of Herman Miller’s most iconic pieces like the Eames Chairs and the Nelson Marshmallow Sofa is an absolute honor.”

Says Ben Matsuzaki, managing director of Herman Miller Japan: “I am very excited to launch the new Maharam upholstered furniture pieces today in our Herman Miller Store Tokyo. These beautiful and original textiles have been brought to life by Maharam in collaboration with Paul Smith. Touching the fabric and sitting on the chairs, you will find exceptional craftmanship and quality. I hope these special collection pieces will be able to enrich the lives of our customers.”

A storewide installation celebrating Paul Smith and Maharam for Herman Miller Collection will be on view at Herman Miller’s Tokyo flagship until October 21.

About Herman Miller 
Herman Miller is a globally recognized provider of furnishings and related technologies and services. Headquartered in West Michigan, the 113-year-old company has relied on innovative design to  solve problems wherever people work, live, learn, and heal. With recognizable designs as part of museum collections worldwide, Herman Miller is a past recipient of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and has been ranked number one on Contract magazine’s list of “Brands that Inspire” for four straight years. Known and respected for its leadership in corporate social responsibility, Herman Miller has earned numerous global sustainability and inclusivity awards including the Human Rights Foundation’s top rating in its Corporate Equality Index for 11 years in a row.

About Maharam
Founded in 1902, Maharam is North America’s leading creator of textiles for commercial and residential interiors. Recognized for its rigorous and holistic commitment to design, Maharam embraces a range of disciplines from product, graphic, and digital design to art and architecture. Maharam textiles are included in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Stedelijk Museum, among others. Maharam is the recipient of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Design Patron Award (2007) for its longstanding support of design and cultural initiatives.

About Paul Smith
Sir Paul Smith is one of Britain’s foremost designers. He is renowned for his creative spirit, which combines tradition and modernity. Famous for its clothing and accessories collections, Paul Smith specializes in an inventive use of traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge design to create beautifully made, desirable, modern pieces. Paul Smith is loved across the world. From its origins  in one small shop in Nottingham, England, in 1970, Paul Smith has grown into a global business,  selling in over seventy countries. Starting with one men’s collection, the business now comprises collections for men, women and children, including, shoes, accessories, fragrance and home furnishings. Throughout its development Paul Smith’s values of curiosity, quality and authenticity have remained constant.

Image source: Herman Miller Asia Pacific

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

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

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)

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.

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. 

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

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 ..

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.

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.”

View the MODE COLLECTION here

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 introduces Dots, the fourteenth woven textile, and first dot pattern, designed by Paul Smith in collaboration with the Maharam Design Studio.

Since 2002, Paul Smith and Maharam have worked together to transform traditional suiting concepts into upholstery. Based on Smith’s designs for a woven silk necktie featured in his Spring/Summer 2017 menswear collection, Dots extends this practice of creating “classics with a twist” for interiors. 

Uniting two timeless patterns, Dots juxtaposes a miniature houndstooth check with a bold polka dot to create a distinct design that fuses both motifs. The understated, matte houndstooth is constructed using a dense end-and-end warp with alternating light-and-dark cotton and nylon threads in the weft. Twill dots, speckled for a playful and graphic effect, are woven with a lustrous, mercerized cotton yarn, highlighting each spot. 

Pulling from both customary menswear apparel colours and more modern references, Dots includes a palette of nine refined neutrals, brilliant pastels, and bright accents. The duotone background is checked with shades of cocoa, ruby, cerise, sage, jasper, chartreuse, cyan, ivy, and cobalt blue. 

Click to view the full Dots collection

Besides celebrating Canvas, designed by Giulio Ridolfo, Kvadrat also launched Georgina Wright’s latest upholstery textile, Skye - a woollen design with a simple yet refined expression - several colour updates to the Tonica and Daybreak collections from Kvadrat, and the Mesh and Tracery and Wend collections from Maharam.

Tonica 2 is a woollen melange upholstery textile by Georgina Wright. Inspired by natural landscapes, they go from subtle neutrals and soft pastel notes to pure highlight tones associated with the Bauhaus movement such as yellow, blue and red. The original Tonica was based on two piece-dyed wool qualities, Tonica 2 now comprises of three, allowing for a greater variety of tones and an enhanced expression of colours. Reflecting this, Tonica 2 goes a step further in meeting the original design goal of Tonica: to deliver a solid, clear and vivid colour expression shadowed with black.

Designed by Patricia Urquiola, Daybreak 2 is a unicoloured, transparent curtain with an open structure inspired by the light at dawn. Tactile irregularities play across the surface of the textile reminiscent of linen. As light conditions change, the expression changes too. Daybreak 2 comes in updated colours of neutral hues as well as a few subtly coloured tones, such as toned-down brick, soft yellows and understated greens.
The Mesh and Tracery collections by Scholten & Baijings and the Wend collection from Maharam Design Studio have also added to the range of colours.

Reflecting Dutch design duo Scholten & Baijings’s focus on nuanced colour and refined geometric patterns, the new designs Mesh and Tracery are created in collaboration with Maharam. While Mesh utilises tightly interlocking textures and a unique palette to create subtle geometric movement, Tracery is a small-scale pattern using gridded and diagonal lines to enhance graphic and textural depth. 

Wend by Maharam Design Studio is a weave using nubby yarns to create a sophisticated boucle texture. Wend comes in a carefully selected palette of warm and cool neutrals with bursts of turquoise, sea glass, pine, zinnia and currant

Crafted by design duo Doshi Levien, Lila and Raas are vibrant upholstery textiles with an exceptional colour story. 

Inspired by the commonalities of outwardly contrasting worlds – Royal Indian miniature paintings, glazed Chinese ceramics and Modernist paintings – the sensual colour concept for the textiles comprises natural, deep tone-on-tone colours and subtle combinations, which unite to create intriguing new hues. The names of the fabrics, which are derived from Hindu mythology, reflect this. Lila means ‘play’ or ‘dance’ while Raas refers to ‘aesthetics’ and ‘feelings’.

To realise their vision, Doshi Levien mixed more than 100 gouache colours by hand, then hand-painted them onto samples. These were used as reference in production to dye the yarn with great accuracy – resulting in sophisticated, elegant colours that cannot be found in any existing colour systems.

“Working on Lila and Raas has been a very deep and intense exploration in aesthetics of mixing colour. We wanted to create colour by mixing paints by hand, rather than choosing colour references from existing colour charts,” Nipa says and continues “There is play of aesthetics, between ancient and modern references, vivid and faded colours, memories and remains of colour on architecture; two colours layered on top of each other like textured glazes.”

Kvadrat Maharam Australia are proud to be a supporting partner of leading Australian design initiative LOCAL DESIGN and LOCAL MILAN No. 3 in 2018.

The third edition of LOCAL MILAN presented by LOCAL DESIGN was unveiled at the 2018 Milan Design Week and featured the work of 26 Australian designers.

The Exhibition is the largest independent showcase of Australian design to date in Milan and was curated and creatively directed by LOCAL DESIGN’s founder Emma Elizabeth. Through Elizabeth’s creative direction and styling of these pieces, they became reactive in the confinement of the Palazzo’s vibrant interior walls.

LOCAL DESIGN strives to raise the level of awareness, credibility and understanding of the Australian design scene, to a global audience. Each room will stage a snippet of the 26 designers, that collectively shift through concepts of colour, scent and sound. The designers include:

Designer: Adam Cornish

Project name: Rev stool, Strand chair

Location of designer: Melbourne

Designer: Adam Goodrum x Arthur Seigneur

Project name: Bloom cabinet

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Anna Varendorrf / A.C.V Studio

Project name: Brass vases, brass object wall, table light

Location of designer: Melbourne

Designer: Christopher Boots

Project name: Light fixtures

Location of designer: Melbourne

Designer: Charles Wilson

Project name: Floor lamps with King Fisher

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Daniel Emma

Project name: Bling Bling Dynasty

Location of designer: Adelaide

Designer: Dowel Jones

Project name: Venena Arca

Location of designer: Melbourne

Designer: Emma Elizabeth

Project name: Natural Progressions

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Fred Ganim

Project name: Plane Table

Location of designer: Melbourne

Designer: Hava Studio

Project name: Three New Mirror Designs

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Henry Wilson

Project name: Uplights and wall lights in Bronze

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Jamie Durie

Project name: Pandanus Table

Location of designer: Sydney/ LA

Designer: Jon Goulder

Project name: Innate

Location of designer: Adelaide

Designer: Jonathan Zawada

Project name: Piece of Pie Coffee table

Location of designer: Byron

Designer: Kate Banazi

Project name: Three-dimensional Installation

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Korban/ Flaubert

Project name: Nude #6

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Nicholas Fuller

Project name: Voyage Partitions

Location of designer: Adelaide

Designer: Ross Gardam

Project name: Noon Collection

Location of designer: Melbourne

Designer: Sagitine

Project name: ‘The Sydney’ and the Santiago Luxe

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: SP01

Project name: Jeanette chairs and barstool

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Tom Fereday

Project name: SIA Chair

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Tom Skeehan

Project name: NAVE Chairs and SO Glass Light

Location of designer: Canberra

Designer: Walter Barda

Project name: Torso Chair

Location of designer: Sydney

Designer: Volker Haug Studio

Project name: Oddments, The Anton sconce and the modular Step & Kick range.

Location of designer: Melbourne

Find out more about LOCAL DESIGN here

Kvadrat Maharam and Living Edge enjoyed the company of Carole Baijings in Sydney to launch the ColourForm Sofa which offers a fresh and inspiring take on colour and form.

Designed by Scholten & Baijings in collaboration with Herman Miller and Maharam, it is a comfortable and timeless design for home and office environments.“Herman Miller, Maharam and Scholten & Baijings are all leaders in the use of colour in design. Colour is a powerful communication device, and these designers and manufacturers create palettes and choose materials to evoke emotion or create an atmosphere. ColourForm is fresh, lighthearted and calming, and the universal design makes it ideal for work and home life,” said Jo Mawhinney, Director of Product and Brand Experience of Living Edge.

ColourForm Sofa Group expresses Amsterdam-based Scholten & Baijings’ mastery of colour, textile and form. Husband-and-wife Carole Baijings and Stefan Scholten take colour and textiles as the starting point of their design process, often designing their own. In this case worked with Maharam Design Group to develop two upholstery textiles for ColourForm, to create a draped look, as if blankets have been folded over the wooden frame. Pare is a soft, matte woven blend with quilting for a cushioned effect. Tracery has detailing in colour and pattern with small grids for texture and interest.

The textiles are available in numerous colourways that can be mixed and matched for a monochromatic or multi-coloured look, and the wooden frame is also available in various colour options. “You live with a sofa for a long time, so the colour needs to have longevity, to be sophisticated and a bit subtle. But we still think it’s nice to make a statement, so we have some stand-out colours in the range too,” said Stefan Scholten in an interview for Herman Miller.

The ColourForm seating collection has an upright and sculptural quality with glimpses of the exposed wooden frame. It includes two- and three-seater sofas with and without arms, a club chair, ottoman, bench, sectional, and a distinctive tête-à-tête. Each piece can stand alone or be combined with others to provide a place for work, play and relaxation in home and office environments.

Two backrest heights allow for different settings and purposes. High-back modules create moments of privacy and low-back modules encourage collaboration. They can be combined for varied seating arrangements or to guide people through a space.

“Simplicity is always the key thing with any of our products. We emphasise colour, so we always produce designs that are quite minimal, which allows the colours and details to come into focus,” said Carole Baijings.

The Herman Miller ColourForm Sofa is exclusivily available at Living Edge.

Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and other Treasures at Kunsthistorisches Museum 2018
Wes Anderson and Juman Malouf November 6 2018 – April 28 2019

In 2012, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna initiated a new series of exhibitions for which remarkable creative individuals are invited to present their own personal selections of objects drawn from the museum’s historical collections. The museum’s collections number more than four million objects, and span a period of five thousand years.

For this edition, American filmmaker Wes Anderson and writer and illustrator Juman Malouf have been selected by Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna to curate the exhibition. Titled Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and other Treasures, this special exhibition marks the third instalment of this series and opened on 6th November 2018.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and the Fondazione Prada and will be presented at the Fondazione Prada, Milan, from October 2019. Jasper Sharp (Kunsthistorisches Museum) and Mario Mainetti (Fondazione Prada) have assisted with the curation. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with text contributions from Sabine Haag, Jasper Sharp and Wes Anderson.

Kvadrat has supported the exhibition with 500 meter of Divina 3 textile in a selection of colours which upholster the walls in the different areas of the exhibition space.

In collaboration with Kvadrat, internationally acclaimed designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have created Clouds, an innovative, interlocking fabric tile concept for the home. Made from one element and attached with special rubber bands, they can be installed to a wall or hung from a ceiling.

Clouds evolves as you add elements to it, producing a unique three-dimensional effect. Inspired by the inviting look and feel of the surface, it is possible to construct your own piece and make your vision reality. Self-expression lies at the heart of the appeal of Clouds.

Creating your own piece is quick and easy, whether you want a simple design or a complex decorative screen or wall. You can easily arrange and re-arrange the tiles to reflect your individual style and bring new ideas into your home, time and time again.

‘This piece instantly produces three-dimensional shapes that constantly evolve  as you keep adding new elements to the geometry by banishing traditional rectangular settlements.

Clouds coat architecture in a more fluid yet dynamic way; bringing surprisingly colourful fabric windows to any room.’ Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Clouds comes in 8 colour combinations of Divina, Divina MD and Divina Melange, and infinite possibilities of mixing and matching. They are available in boxes of 8 or 24 pieces.

Since its initial launch in 2009, Clouds has won numerous awards, including Design of the Year 2010 by Design Museum London and Danish Design Award 2010 by Danish Design Center. They also form a part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are two of the most influential designers in the world today. Trained in modern art and design, originally, they come from a town near Rennes in Brittany, France.

Since 1999, the Bouroullecs have worked together from their studio in Paris. Their diverse output spans furniture, product design, interior design and the development of conceptual objects.

Discover clouds here

Patio is an upholstery textile developed for outdoors, which offers exceptional colour vibrancy. Designed by Karina Nielsen Rios, it is made with a highly durable, specially developed Trevira CS yarn.

A result of 3 years intensive research, Patio features a fluorocarbon-free, environmentally-focused finish, which is water-repellent and fast-drying. It also provides resist­ance against chlorine, seawater and artificial weathering and is Flame-retardant. In addition to its technical features, it also stands out for a soft touch compared to other outdoor fabrics.

Patio has a subtle structure, which combines two coloured yarns in the warp and one in the weft. Depending on the level of contrast between the colours, Patio appears either almost unicoloured or more textured. Its versatile palette brings a fresh, sporty perspective on colours to outdoors textiles. It combines natural and neutral nuances, as well as bold highlight tones.

Patio is suitable for all outdoor spaces, as well as other areas, like spas and indoor pools, where high-humidity and chlorine are a factor. In addition to furniture, it can also be used for screens, parasols and umbrellas.

Karina Nielsen Rios

Based in Copenhagen, Karina Nielsen Rios studied fine weaving and textile design at the Danish Design School, the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, Jette Nevers’ textile studio and Skals Håndarbejdsseminarium (VIA University College).

Karina Nielsen Rios’s sleek, cool work combines aesthetic insight, craftsmanship and a desire to innovate with high-tech materials. It often sits at the cutting-edge of textile design and has featured in several exhibitions and galleries.

For further information please click here

Blue is Divine

At this year’s Salone del Mobile, Kvadrat is presenting Blue is Divine, a colourful homage to Finn Sködt: graphic designer, painter and long-time collaborator of Kvadrat. The exhibition is inspired by pure pigments from his workshop and Divina Melange in Sködt’s favourite  Ultramarine blue. Celebrating the mark of Finn Sködt and Kvadrat’s extensive collaboration, an updated colour palette of Divina Melange will be launched, accentuating the textiles continuing strong colour story.

New colours in Divina Melange 3 The palette for Divina Melange has been carefully picked, based on the designer’s personal colour library – a vast collection of hand-painted samples that document each and every colour used in Finn Sködt’s works as a painter over the past decades.

Kvadrat showroom
Corso Monforte 15
20122 Milan

____

Salone Del Mobile

At the fair, visitors are invited to an immersive experience into a universe of texture and aesthetics where we show our new textile and rug collections.

Kvadrat stand
Rho Fiera
Pavillon 22, stand E25 + F20

The fourth edition of LOCAL MILAN was unveiled at this year’s Milan Design Week in the 5 Vie district, the historic heart of Milan and centre of art, design and culture.  

Presented by Emma Elizabeth and LOCAL DESIGN, LOCAL MILAN NO.4 featured 44 Australian / New Zealand designers and was the largest independent showcase of Australian design to date in Milan.  With a vision to advance awareness and understanding of Australian design amongst a global audience, the exhibition invited guests to walk through ten editorially curated rooms which brought the collective of designers together to celebrate colour, texture and sound.

Working with a palette driven approach to the two level appartamento, Emma Elizabeth utilised a montage of hanging Kvadrat and Maharam Studio collections, to act as backdrops to the stylised sets. The editorial approach to each room design, framed a visual vignette capturing a connection between upholstery and hard furniture.

We are proud to be a major sponsor of the fourth edition of LOCAL MILAN.

Kvadrat’s sensuous stand at Salone was an intriguing constellation of meticulous designs, subtle nuances and vibrant designs.

An immersive experience into a universe of texture and aesthetics, Kvadrat all-encompassing textile collection included the latest Kvadrat/Raf Simons collection and the new Divina Melange and Campas 300.

Atom is an experimental bouclé with a seemingly random pattern that unveils speckles of colour that are reminiscent of a lush garden or tiny drops of paint. It comes in colourways that play with bold contrasts, which embody Raf Simons’s signature style, as well as series of deep neutral combinations. Atom is only the latest of the Kvadrat/Raf Simons textile designs to draw oblique inspiration from the colours of nature.

Matte Novus 1 and shimmering melange Novus 2 offer refined variations of a jacquard-woven bouclé. With references to furniture designer Jean Royère’s Tour Eiffel series and even traditional handwoven Moroccan rugs, Simons created a fading grid design that seems to melt into the textiles’ textured background. Ideal for mixing and matching, they share a versatile colour palette that ranges from soft neutrals, sometimes flecked with red or emerald green, through to stronger electric blues and scarlet.

Phlox is Raf Simons’ take on classic corduroy. Characterised by a velvety handle, ribbed structure and amped-up scale, the textile has a soft, short-cut pile that reflects the light. As a result, it expresses colours with an almost iridescent richness. Its colour scale evokes memories of the 1970s with striking red, green and blue make-up shades.

Divina Melange 3 is a vibrant piece-dyed woollen upholstery textile reminiscent of felt. Compact and smooth, it expresses colours and the shape of furniture exceptionally well. Unlike previous editions, its colourways go beyond pairs of light and dark versions of the same colour – and therefore deliver greater diversity than ever.

Campas 300 is an elegant matte curtain with a voluminous drape and a subtle diagonal structure. Its updated palette has been refined into 20 colourways. Consisting of dark shades, these complement the curtain’s smooth, firm, densely woven construction and signature colour properties.

Kvadrat transformed its showroom into a colourful homage to designer and painter Finn Sködt during this year’s Milan Design Week.  A long-time collaborator with Kvadrat, the exhibition shed light on the artist’s painstaking methodology and the intriguing colour story behind his new palettes for Divina Melange and Campas 300.

Finn Sködt’s extraordinary sense for colour and aesthetic purity underpins his long-standing collaboration with Kvadrat.  Blue is Divine provided a rich insight into his work methods by bringing together bottles of his pigments, a series of textile creations in his favourite Ultramarine blue, contrasting rolls of Divina, and the hand-painted samples he has used to record all the hues in his paintings – from which the new colours for Divina Melange and Campas 300 are taken.

Kvadrat has taken a majority stake in the Dutch textile company FEBRIK. The global leader in design textiles, Kvadrat hereby adds a substantial knit portfolio to its product offering.

Strongly rooted in Tilburg, the Netherlands, which is historically tied to the textile industry, Dutch textile company FEBRIK has in less than 10 years made its international mark on the design community with its innovative approach and designer collaborations.

“FEBRIK has, like no one else, broken the code to innovative knitting and we are very impressed by their capabilities. We are looking forward to help develop FEBRIK become the global leader in knitting for interior,” Anders Byriel, CEO Kvadrat

Jos Pelders, founder and CEO FEBRIK: “We have been admirers of Kvadrat for a long time and we are very excited to join forces. It feels right and there is a good click between the teams. Moreover it gives us the opportunity to accelerate our global expansion through the Kvadrat network.”

On the 1st July 2019, FEBRIK will re-launch as Kvadrat FEBRIK and will be sold through Kvadrat Maharam. All sales and all customer support including orders, sampling and logistics will be taken over by the local Kvadrat Maharam team.

There are now 9 knitted textiles in the Kvadrat FEBRIK collection, some best sellers staying as they are and some that will be introduced in new colours. New textiles are also in development and will gradually be introduced over time.

To discover the Kvadrat FEBRIK collection please click here.

Under – Soft Cells above and below the surface
Lindenes, Norway

The ceiling passage at Under, an iconic under-sea restaurant designed by Snøhetta architects, features Soft Cells acoustic panels in different geometries upholstered in the multicoloured custom textile Under. The solution is pioneering: each of the multicoloured panels has a unique geometry and look.

As you ‘go under’ into the dining area, which looks out at marine life, the ceiling, which unites concave and planar Soft Cells panels, creates an immersive experience. The acoustic environment steadily becomes crisper and stiller, while the colours melt from light reds to dark greens and blues.

The result of intensive collaboration between Kvadrat and Snøhetta, spanning well over a year, the Soft Cells acoustic ceiling solution meets the stringent functional and regulatory requirements of the project: industrial-life, top-tier fire-retardancy, optimal acoustic conditioning and seamless integration with lighting fittings.

Reflecting this, Kvadrat Soft Cells developed a special fitting so the light spots in the ceiling can be individually angled to accommodate the curvature of the ceiling as well as avoiding any reflection in the large window. The team also organised installation and perfect alignment of the pattern on all the panels.

Art on the ceiling
The textile Under was developed based on a vision of the architects, who wanted a richly structured, multicoloured textile for the restaurant. Snøhetta have worked with Kvadrat for many years and initiated a new collaboration with Kvadrat’s Custom Made Products department, CMP.

CMP identified a proven Trevira CS quality that would meet the necessary fire safety as well as the acoustic requirements.

Next, a series of workshops with Snøhetta to define the final design followed. These explored which technical solution would best realise the goal of moving from light to dark, and create an increasingly still acoustic environment when travelling down into the dining area.

Under comes in 11 custom colours and sits at the apex of textile craftsmanship. Most of the design’s yarn tones are custom-made, then woven into heavy bundles, which each comprise unique tone-in-tone combinations.

As each of the colours has its own repeat, Under’s pattern is always changing. Exceptionally, the eye-catching gradients travel from both top to bottom and left to right. This instils the ceiling with extraordinary vibrancy: like the ocean, it constantly ebbs and flows.

Henrik C. Bagge-Nielsen, CMP: “At Kvadrat Custom Made Products we offer a custom-service. Working on over 300 projects a year, we build on over 40 years’ experience of learning, observing and translating designer data into reality. This enabled us to develop and deliver Under in a year. We know Snøhetta always seek the extraordinary. And the way Under flows across the panels is art on the ceiling.”

A tapestry of geometries
Like Under, the Soft Cells acoustic ceiling solution is also highly advanced. The panels, as with all Soft Cells solutions, are custom-made for a perfect fit. They were produced, delivered and installed by Kvadrat Soft Cells.

In addition to producing technologically-challenging concave acoustic panels, Kvadrat Soft Cells also ensured the stripes of Under’s pattern align perfectly, across every single panel. This was achieved through meticulous attention-to-detail when upholstering the panels.

From a purely functional perspective, the Soft Cells solution meets the demanding standards of the project. It not only provides Class A sound absorption performance; it also meets the stringent fire safety standards that the restaurant, with its unique location, demands.

Furthermore, for this particular project, Kvadrat Soft Cells developed a special fitting for the 394 LED spots integrated in the ceiling. This enabled the electrician, whom the Kvadrat Soft Cells installers worked closely with, to precisely position each one at an optimal angle”.

Thomas Lorenzen, Sales Manager Europe, Kvadrat Soft Cells: “The Soft Cells ceiling solution at Under looks beautiful and delivers industrial-life, optimal acoustic conditions – while meeting the demanding FR requirements of the restaurant. Everything about it expresses high quality, from the way the panels exactly align to the seamless integration of the spots.”

A creative collaboration with deep roots
Kvadrat and Snøhetta have collaborated on many projects, over a period lasting well over a decade. This includes a number of acclaimed venues, such as the Oslo Opera House and the National Museum for Norway.

Thomas Lorenzen, Sales Manager Europe, Kvadrat Soft Cells: “The ceiling at Under is outstanding both functionally and aesthetically – it makes a powerful statement about the excellent, long-standing collaboration we enjoy with Snøhetta.”

Architects
Snøhetta

Location
Above and below the ocean, Lindenes, Norway

Opening
2019

Interior
137 panels upholstered in a specially developed textile Under – named after the restaurant for which it was developed; 126 Soft Cells Broadline planar panels, 11 Soft Cells Free-Form concave panels

Additional project facts
Acoustics: the Soft Cells panels performs according to Class A as per ISO 11654/EN ISO 354
Flammability: the Soft Cells panels performs according to B-s1, d0 as per EN13501-1
CE Marking: the Soft Cells panels comply with the EU-harmonized product standard for suspended ceilings (EN-13964)

Imagery by Ivar Kvaal

Discover more Soft Cells projects here.

As part of the new workspace precinct centre at DENFAIR 2019, Futurespace directors Angela Ferguson and Gavin Harris were appointed to create a purpose-driven space within the area where design and technology innovations in the workspace can be experienced.

Their inspiring installation called #futurework featured a series of design portraits that communicated just what it is that makes Australian workplace design truly special. These design portraits incorporate furniture, finishes, ideas, lighting, graphics and technology to share with the design and wider community the playfulness, inventiveness, creativity and inspiration behind Australian workplace interior design.

The installation included Kvadrat DIVINA 3 and FEBRIK GENTLE 2 textiles in one of the three combined interactive spaces.

In other areas of DENFAIR we also saw the creative use of Kvadrat and Maharam textiles in the newly launched Puffalo lounge design by Ross Didier where the clever combination of colour, print and voluptuous shapes inspires multiple combinations in this modular piece that exemplifies Didier’s celebration of that laid-back style.

Designed by the Maharam Design Studio and Leon Ransmeier, Maharam’s NeoCon 2019 showroom presented an atmospheric arrangement of new textiles by Paul Smith, Hella Jongerius, Sonnhild Kestler, Finn Sködt, Margrethe Odgaard, and Georgina Wright considered to be our boldest scale of installation to date. 

Beyond the Merchandise Mart, an offsite exhibition designed by Maharam Media, Ein schönes ödes Haus. (A Lovely Bare House.) celebrated our collaboration with the Swiss textile designer Sonnhild Kestler through artifacts transported from Kestler’s Zürich atelier, photography of her studio process by Nick Ballón, and select Maharam textiles within an industrial interior in Chicago’s historic Fulton Market.                       

For additional reading, please see the published essay by Maharam Stories on the resurgence of interest in pattern by Alice Rawsthorn and an interview with Sonnhild Kestler in honour of our expanded collaboration.

October 31st - November 2019

The imminent launch of the Broached Goulder collection designed by Jon Goulder is an honouring of layers of intergenerational knowledge and inherited craft. Broached wrestled with the expectation of 'legacy' and what it ultimately means to defy it and, in doing so, redefine it.

Kvadrat Maharam
17 Foster St, Surry Hills
NSW 2010
8:30am to 5pm Monday to Friday
For enquiries email info@broachedcommissions.com

Broached Goulder is a collection of limited-edition furniture that recounts, through artisanal making, a deep connection between Jon Goulder a fourth-Generation Australian furniture maker and the generations that came before him. 

The Maharam leather used in the collection has been supplied by Kvadrat Maharam and has been used in highly diverse ways; as woven panels to form the intricate sliding doors of the credenza and the chaise lounge, then as a robust water formed skin backing a standing-mirror and finally as a laminated structural form in the console.