INTERIOR JOURNAL > THE FACTORY TOUR > RAF SIMONS FOR KVADRAT
The Kvadrat/Raf Simons collection brings the acclaimed designer’s exceptional sense of style to the home. Distinguished by the innovative blending of colour and materials for which he is known in the fashion world, Raf Simons’s collection of textiles and accessories for the home is by turn sophisticated and playful, and produced according to the exacting standards associated with Kvadrat.
Conceived as a suite of diverse yet complementary tones, weaves and textures, sixteen core textile designs have been designed to be suitable for use in a wide variety of interiors.
In the two years since it first launched, the Kvadrat/Raf Simons collection has set new standards for inventively designed upholstery textiles combining Kvadrat’s high production standards with Raf Simons’ instinctive flair for combining colours. The stripe theme of the 2016 collection is deployed across three new textile designs through the use of textured yarns and subtly fragmented colour.
For the collection, Simons chose to offer a refreshing alternative to the flat woven textiles commonly used in contemporary upholstery, creating richly textured, meticulously realised designs that bring a sculptural quality and a new tactility to furnishings. This is his third collection of blended wool textiles, exploring the stripes in varying degrees of graphic boldness and fresh and contemporary colours.
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.
Raf Simons recently left his role as creative director of Dior Women, a position that he had held since 2012, to concentrate on his own label and other collaborations. A passionate collector of contemporary art and modern design, Simons’s aesthetic is often informed by his admiration for art and he regularly engages in interdisciplinary collaborations.
It was the strikingly modern nautical upholstery of Franco Albini’s suspended Poltrona Seggiovia (Chairlift Chair below) of 1940s that inspired Simons to explore the stripe in upholstery textile. The resulting designs, Reflex, Pulsar and Fuse, were named in reference to the musical world that is an important source of inspiration to the designer.
Kvadrat fabrics have been used in some of the world’s most intriguing landmark architecture, collaborating with leading designers, architects and artists, including, David Adjaye, Miriam Bäckström, Patricia Urquiola, Tord Boontje, and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.
Kvadrat was established in Denmark in 1968 and has deep roots in Scandinavia’s design tradition. Kvadrat holds the leading position in Europe’s high-quality contemporary textiles market. They supply architects, designers and private consumers across the world with textiles and textile-related products.
The collection can be purchased via Skandium
www.kvadrat.dk – Images c/o Kvadrat – Lars Petter Petterson