The invisible collection began with two friends who saw a need for a website that offered some of the most exclusive items from the best names in French design in one marketplace.
The Invisible Collection has added its first British interior designer, Sophie Ashby, to its list of revered international designers and architects who contribute to its selection of furniture and household accessories.
The Invisible Collection is a website that provides people a way to online shop the private collections of Europe’s interior designers and architects. The website began with two friends, Anna Zaoui and Isabelle Dubern, who saw there was a need for a website that offered some of the most exclusive items from the best names in French design in one marketplace. From there, Zaoui and Dubern expanded to include designers from other European countries to make their company international.
A few noteworthy designers who contribute to the Invisible Collection are India Mahdavi, a French architect, industrial designer, graphic designer and furniture designer, Hubert Le Gall, a French designer, sculptor, scenographer and painter, and Federica Tondato, an Italian architect and interior designer. The addition of Ashby, the creative director of Studio Ashby, to the list of designers has widened the scope of the Invisible Collection to include pieces by British designers.
Studio Ashby’s first furniture collection in collaboration with the Invisible Collection consists of 17 pieces. The collection was designed for private residential projects in the United Kingdom, including a riverside penthouse on the Southbank, a holiday home on the coast in the new forest and a family home in Holland Park.
The collection draws inspiration from art, nature and the places Ashby has traveled to and experienced. From the works of Yves Klein to Jean Arp, and the Japanese Kyoto gardens of Holland Park to the colors of the Karoo, Ashby’s nomadic upbringing and love for travel, combined with her artistic sensibility, grant a unique personality to her designs.
Ashby’s different experiences have each fed her understanding of design, its power and its possibility — from the vast nature of the south African landscape to the small rooms of a Victorian house in the city, and the urban intensity of New York to the rural charm of the English countryside.
Photos courtesy of www.theinvisiblecollection.com
Known for the classic-modern style that has distinguished her designs since 1994, Adriana Hoyos knew that for the 10th collection by Adriana Hoyos Furnishings, she wanted to break boundaries. To produce a bold collection that fuses timeless elegance with elements of modern architecture, Hoyos teamed up with someone who could inject the perspective of the “new generation” into the design process — her daughter, Andrea Perez.
By Sarah Binder
The first-time collaboration married Hoyos’ experience and knowledge with Perez’s refreshing and cutting-edge perspective. They dubbed their creative development process, “Passing on the DNA.”
The phrase is a fitting description for the new TEN Collection, which draws inspiration from Mid-Century Modernism, “particularly the innovative architectural trends that emerged from design pioneers Oscar Niemeyer and Dame Zaha Hadid,” explains Hoyos. “By reviving and reinventing the design style from this era, we developed new products that blend strong architectural qualities with flexible, free-flowing figures found in nature (curves made by waves in the ocean, the winding trail made by rivers, etc.).”
The collection redefines the Quito, Ecuador-headquartered design house’s look by applying avant-garde concepts to classic designs in products including furniture, daybeds, vertical cushioned arm sofas, upholstered chairs, ottomans, and cocktail tables. Yet, Hoyos notes, her clients’ evolving needs were a driving factor in the design process: “Aside from being innovative, each piece should also be practical, comfortable, and durable.
“The TEN Collection delivers concepts that transform the design panorama for furniture, proving that the reinvention of mid-century elegance never goes out of style,” says Hoyos.
TEN Cocktail Table
$3,160
“With its striking metallic finish and glass top, the TEN cocktail table adds an extra dose of refinement to any room. The unique geometric figures and smooth angles in its base are symbols of this tenth collection and convey elegance, modernism, and a new approach on design.”
TEN Dining Table
$3,050
“We adopted a sculptural approach in the design of the dining table. Our main attention was achieving the right movement, which is accomplished when a structure has the right balance and equilibrium. The window-like spaces between the base forms convey translucent lightness, while the sturdiness of wood adds the needed stability. It can be customized with a round or squared base.”
TEN Side Chair
$1,342
“An ergonomic chair, beautiful and functional. Its organic form is complemented with metal accents that dress its legs, while the back is decorated with new hardware from the TEN Collection and gives way to a lower space that accentuates its delicate curves.”
TEN Upholstered Chair
$3,050
“The details of this chair give it a grand presence and character: a hierarchical back, elegant metallic heels adorning its legs, and a unique silhouette that transforms it into an exquisite piece of design. Metallic accents in the past were used to add resistance in the structure, but now are used as an elegant accent, while the shape represents an architectonic interpretation of works that inspired the collection.”
Photos courtesy Chris Falconi
Designer and author Barclay Butera has collaborated with a team of artisans to create The Barclay Butera Outdoor Collection for CASTELLE.
Transitional deep seating from the Barclay Butera Outdoor Collection for CASTELLE. All photos courtesy of CASTELLE.
The Barclay Butera Outdoor Collection for CASTELLE features intricate fretwork, curves and engineered castings. Within this designer collection, Butera’s signature white and navy blue color story is impressively presented in the finishing and textile selections.
“Well anyone who knows me has seen the evolution of my love affair with blue and white over the years,” says Butera. “It’s such a classic, and the pieces had a nod to nautical, but definitely have a little all-American and a little European influences. I love the ocean, the beach, the sun and sky; blue and white just seemed right.”
Butera began working on the collection with CASTELLE, a furniture company specializing in cast aluminum outdoor furnishings, in June 2016. He says he has been designing outdoor spaces “for what seems like forever” and wanted to make a change when it came to creating outdoor furniture pieces. “We are so fortunate in Southern California to be able to use our outdoor spaces year-round, I often refer to porches, patios, decks and the like as the fifth room. I was constantly on the lookout for a fresh, traditional-with-a-twist furniture; I wanted something that could go transitional and contemporary if need be as well. So I was thrilled when CASTELLE approached me about a line, I could not be more over-the-moon with the end result.”
The celebrity designer says he has thoroughly enjoyed working on the collaboration and with the team on such a spectacular collection since they started. “When I first approached the design process, I was inspired by this magnificent geometric ceiling carving I saw in an English manor years ago. I have incorporated this pattern into carpets, wallpapers and now the fretwork for outdoor furniture; I think it translates beautifully! And, of course, clean navy and crisp white are always in fashion.”
Butera’s vision for the collection was to have pieces that were glamorous yet comfortable, with an emphasis on versatility and being “chameleon-like.”
Barclay Butera
“This design is so versatile it will work in a Central Park penthouse as well as a chic beach home on Newport Harbor and everywhere in between… I can’t imagine a home that this collection would not work with!” Butera affirms.
The collection debuted earlier this year at the Spring High Point Market in CASTELLE’s showroom, exhibiting a deep seating collection including a sofa, loveseat, lounge chair, ottoman and coordinating tables, as well as cushion and sling dining. All the pieces received high marks and positive feedback from buyers, according to CASTELLE President and CEO Derek Ritzel. “We had great numbers for the launch reception and were especially excited about our products being selected from the entire market as favorites by show spotters.” In regards to the Butera collection itself, Ritzel had his own positive remarks to share.
“Throughout the design and production process, partnering with Barclay and his team has proven to be a very creative and positive experience for CASTELLE,” said Ritzel. “The final designs definitely present the quality and luxury of CASTELLE and the unique design aesthetic of Barclay.”
Reflective of the success of the outdoor collection already, Butera is prepared to continue working with CASTELLE and make changes to the outdoor furnishings market. “As we grow our partnership, expect to see a wide range of chic styles and design choices. For me, it is always all about giving the clients furniture that they will love for a very long time.
Chaise lounges from The Barclay Butera Outdoor Collection for CASTELLE.
Visually representing a river ecosystem, the Kasparo I table merges interactivity with interior furniture as it magically comes to life when someone enters the room.
By Samantha Myers
Produced from three basic materials — wood, glass and resin — and coupled with cutting-edge LED technology, the Kasparo I table evokes the sense of observing a small creek flowing into a larger river, eventually cascading into a glass waterfall. Created by a team of six in Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Poland, the Kasparo I took over a year to design and each individual table requires 200 hours of hand labor and fifteen intricate stages of execution.
“I think that the table has many connections to nature. But I think the main one is the simple idea that when you go into a forest, you find a river and a tree,” says Rafal Kasprzak, founder of Kasparo. Each table is made from a single tree and after it is finished, a tree is planted in return. Customers receive a certificate of the planting with details of the location.
“We are showing the problems with the forest and the environment and, of course, with the concept of one tree, one table. It’s not a lot, but it helps in a small way and establishes a good point of view to think about the environment,” says Kasprzak.“The idea was also to speak with friends and family around the table and having an interesting story for it.”
Each table is embedded with proximity sensors that begin an animation when someone approaches the table, using simulation of light to suggest water movement. While the animations tend to be 25 seconds long, it can be programmed to meet the customers’ desires — just one of the many customizations Kasparo offers. “The customer can make changes, bigger or smaller, and we have 20 colors of transparent resin,” he says. Although the typical wood used is oak, the client also can choose the type of wood or tree they’d prefer.
Only a year old, the company aims to make no more than 100 Kasparo I tables — providing each one with a certificate of authenticity and a number — and to venture into other designer furniture that will also take inspiration from nature. While not yet in showrooms, the company accepts personalized requests — a complete rarity when it comes to this type of technological innovation in furniture design.
www.kasparo.pl | 5,000 to 12,500
Christopher Guy’s furnishings combine timeless style with unexpected and distinctive designs, making them sought after by the world’s finest residences, hotels and resorts.
By Christine Aebischer
Looking at Christopher Guy’s collections, you’re immediately drawn to how beautiful each piece is, so much so that you would assume the hand-carved tables and delicate chairs are items meant to be seen, but not used. However, that is not Guy’s philosophy. While creating beautiful pieces is his top priority, he does not allow function to be sacrificed in the process.
“Furniture is a form of art,” shares Guy. “It is something functional, but it is also art. A chair has to be both beautiful and comfortable.” He describes the two ends of the design spectrum in terms of footwear: the beautiful but uncomfortable high heel and the practical but unattractive sneaker. “My designs are certainly not sneakers, but they are not impractical,” he says. It is this balance that makes Guy’s designs so in demand, from the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton to Saks Fifth Avenue and Harrods to the sets of “James Bond” and “The Devil Wears Prada.”
Words like “elegant,” “chic” and “sensual” wouldn’t normally be associated with furniture, but somehow they fit when describing Guy’s designs, which fuse classicism and modernism. Curves abound in his collection, from the back of a chair to the legs of a vanity. He describes his own style as early James Bond — classic and elegant, but with a twist. “It’s elegance with edge, a bit of naughtiness without being wild,” he says.
Born in England and raised in France and Spain, Guy discovered his love of design and appreciation for beauty and glamour at an early age while in the south of France. Today, he splits his time between Singapore, Europe and Los Angeles, and continues to be inspired by his international travels. “I find inspiration in everything I look at,” he shares. “Being able to visit different places and walk down the street is all I need to be inspired.”
Guy began his career designing mirrors and has since expanded into lifestyle collections, designing everything from furniture to décor items and even artwork.
While creating an entire collection poses its share of challenges, Guy is a big-picture thinker. He doesn’t just see a chaise or a cabinet, but rather he envisions how all of the pieces will come together. “Today, every piece has to be eclectic; you have to know how to put something together that looks like a collection, but each piece has to look different from one another,” he explains. “My job is to bring pieces of furniture to give designers to help them in their efforts to put a room together, and even though we present them with everything, they buy selected work,” meaning each piece must be able to stand alone, but also complement the other pieces in the set.
His current collection, Mademoiselle, is inspired by the distinct style of Coco Chanel and the design elements for which she was known, and represents Guy’s interpretation of how her home may have looked in today’s world. Not many designers would try to incorporate the world of high fashion into furniture design, but to Guy it makes perfect sense; both embody beauty, style and sophistication. “Chanel had elements that were the foundation of her brand, and we have our own design elements,” he says.
One of his most recognizable elements is the Chris-X (pronounced Chris-cross) chair leg. Rather than four straight legs, the back legs cross over one another to create a more elegant aesthetic. “Most chairs you look at from the front, but a dining chair you look at from behind when it’s pushed under the table, and I wanted to make a chair that was strong and stable (as well as elegant),” describes Guy.
And just as the fashion industry is dictated by ever-changing trends, Guy’s designs are also driven by the need to stay ahead of the market trends. “We manufacture to what the market needs or is looking for,” he explains. “We have to figure out where the market trend is, and my challenge is to deliver to such a market. But it’s a danger to get too far ahead. We design ahead of the market knowing trends will change, but without getting too far ahead.”
To keep his designs fresh, Guy only keeps a particular style for a limited time and then starts over with something new. However, the hallmarks of his brand remain. In the future, Guy says, he would like to work on a James Bond film again from beginning to end, but only if it was made in the same fashion as the earlier films. “They had all the elements I admired. An Aston Martin is elegant. Is a Lamborghini elegant? No, it’s fast and cutting edge, but it’s not elegant.”
