The other week I headed to Paris for the January edition of Maison et Objet 2019 to hunt out inspiring new designs and the latest furniture launches from across the world. It’s a vast trade show held in the north of the city at the Parc des Expositions and it’s a great place to spot the trends that will soon find their way into interior shops and maybe into our homes. Although I do believe we shouldn’t be slaves to trends, I think it’s best to pick and choose the elements that appeal to us and give them our own personal twist.
But, as I walked up and down the length of the huge halls, I spied burnt orange hues, dark green walls, striped wallpaper, Seventies-inspired interiors, marble-topped tables, corduroy sofas and lots and lots of retro-style cane furniture – not too dissimilar to the trends at Milan Furniture Fair last year.
While my eye is always veering towards the Scandinavian brands (many of which weren’t actually at Maison et Objet), it was great to discover some new (to me) names that I hadn’t come across before – from France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Here I’ve rounded up some of my favourite finds and things that caught my eye, from cane cabinets and modular storage systems to organic-shaped vessels and concrete lamps.
1. Handvårk
Starting with a Nordic brand, Handvårk is a Danish company that has a philosophy centred around ‘aesthetic sustainability’ – creating furniture that lasts a lifetime and becomes more beautiful over time.
They showed new versions of their dining tables, console tables and coffee tables with marble tops designed by Emil Thorup. Instead of being made of one, big piece of marble that could easily break in transit, Handvårk have created a top made of multiple pieces of marble, so sections can be easily swapped out, without needing to go into the cost of replacing the whole table. Mounted on a slender, powder coated metal base, the tables come in black, white and green or alternatively you can also mix and match marbles for a more eclectic look.
images: Retouch by: Wetouch Imagework
2. HK Living
HK Living is a Dutch interior brand that produces furniture and accessories with a global influence and modern look. Founded by Emiel Hetsen and Sander Klaver, the name combines the initials of both their surnames. Their new collection for 2019 felt very trend-driven and designed to appeal to a mass audience, with cane screens, minimalist tables, lamps with figurative hand drawn sketches and shaggy rugs. There were a lot of pastel colours, which can be combined with dark wood, corduroy and marble for a new, retro take on pastels.
The HK Living home is a treasure trove of finds, combining craft pieces and unique objects with classic styles and simple designs. I loved their matte white earthenware vases, terrazzo storage jars and handcrafted ceramic faces from Peru. ‘With our new grand designs, you will be able to turn your house into a mini gallery,’ they say.
3. Hand and Eye Studio
Let’s here it for the Brits! There weren’t many British brands at Maison et Objet 2019 but one of them was Hand and Eye Studio, a London-based lighting design company with a clean, streamlined design aesthetic. Their design team is led by Tom Housden but they also collaborate with like-minded designers and work with makers from the UK and Europe that share their ethos for creating designs that are made to last with high quality materials.
‘We explore materials and production processes in innovative ways, challenging the materials and production capabilities throughout our development stages. Our finished designs celebrate the inherent qualities of the materials, to create unique, desirable and beautiful lighting,’ they say.
Their latest design is the O-Beam, made of a round extruded piece of pistachio-green ceramic that hangs from two, thin suspension wires. Once fired, a hole is cut in the ceramic beam to house a LED strip, revealing in the process the texture and grain of the clay material. Hang one beam over a dining table or combine multiple beams to create an eye-catching chandelier.
4. Tom Dixon
And another Brit – Tom Dixon, who needs no introduction, presented a series of new accessories with a clean, monochromatic aesthetic. They embrace ‘simplicity, purity, materiality, translucency, scale and minimalism in form and function.’
There’s SWIRL (available in summer 2019) – a series of geometric forms that combine together to form a sculptural family of vases, bookends and candleholders. They’re made of a new, patterned material that mixes powdered residue recycled from the marble industry with a pigment and resin, creating something that resembles marbled paper yet is substantial in weight.
My favourite was CARVED. Made by artisanal glass makers in India, these vessels are made from mouth-blown, double layered black and white glass. The glass has been gently carved away to create a play with tone and translucency, at the same time giving the smooth material a textured finish.
5. Serax
You might have heard of Serax before. Founded in 1986, they’re a Belgian brand that works with a range of designers, both lesser known and renowned, to create handcrafted designs manufactured by skilled craftsmen using traditional techniques. The company is perhaps best known for its tableware, used by restaurants across the world.
I loved the focus on organic shapes and raw finishes and textures in Serax’s 2019 collection. The Earth range by in-house designer Marie Michielsson features different shaped vessels that look like they’ve been formed by hand with Plaster of Paris. Meanwhile, Renate Vos’ Concrete collection now features three outdoor lamps. The silicone top hides a metal base with a lighting element, set within a smooth, pebble-shaped, concrete shade.
6. Kann Design
Kann Design was a new discovery for me at Maison et Objet 2019. They’re a French brand that makes all their furniture in a workshop just north-east of Beirut in Lebanon. The company’s heritage dates back to 1958 when the workshop was started by the father of Houssam Kanaan, the founder of Kann. Today they work with a collective of independent craftsmen, painters and weavers to produce high quality, contemporary designs.
For 2019, Meghedi Simonian has reimagined banquette seating with the Mid sofa and loveseat, designed with a walnut base and brick-coloured cushions, and created the Split folding screen made of cane. Studio Caramel have designed a shelving system called Eko made of black steel with brass details. There’s also the Residence chair designed by Jean Couvreur that has a thick steel frame and a rounded seat and back, upholstered in velvet or fabric.
What I liked about Kann Design was that they have opened up a coffee shop in the 10th arrondissement of Paris to showcase their designs and tell their story away from the fair. It’s open everyday (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat-Sun 10am-6pm) at 28 Rue des Vinaigriers.
7. Ex-t
This was by far my favourite stand at Maison et Objet 2019 – Ex-t had wallpapered the walls with a black and white striped design and it looked so smart. And let me tell you, the bathrooms of this Florentine company are to die for!
Founded in 2010, Ex-t collaborates with international designers to create bathrooms designs that are defined by their modularity, versatility and functionality. They describe the bathroom as ‘a dynamic living space, able to transform and renew itself continuously, following the rhythms of contemporary living’. Their modular designs can be adapted to suit different spaces of different sizes.
For 2019, Ex-t presents a new collaboration called Nouveau with Bernhardt-Vella studio, a female duo – comprised of Paola Vella and Ellen Bernhardt – based in Milan. Inspired by Art Deco design, the collection of washbasins, cabinets and mirrors features a balance of geometric shaped modules, sharp angles and sinuous lines. The brass version is bound to be popular.
Norm Architects have also added the new Rest lounge chair to the collection. The low design is inspired by ‘the way Japanese people sit on the floor and lean on the surrounding furniture’, here translated into a cylinder-shaped backrest. It’s available in black leather or dark forest green velvet – a colour that I think we’re going to see much more of as the year progresses.
All images courtesy of respective brands
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