Design week has officially begun in Milan and to start things off in the best possible way, we had the exclusive chance to preview this year's Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades collection. Since its creation in 2012, the Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades collection has invited renowned designers to imagine creative, functional and innovative furniture and objects, which are then elegantly crafted using Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire. The forty-five experimental objects that make up the Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades collection pay homage to the House’s special orders of the past, such as the iconic Bed Trunk produced in 1874 for French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza – and add the defiantly contemporary visions of creative designers from around the world.
This years chosen designers include some of the most renowned names from around the globe, including:
Atelier Oï, Maarten Baas, Barber and Osgerby, Campana Brothers, André Fu, Damien Langlois-Meurinne, Nendo, Gwenaël Nicolas, Raw Edges, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders, India Mahdavi, Tokujin Yoshioka and
Atelier Biagetti and Zanellato / Bortotto, all producing special pieces of furniture for the occasion. Each object is an encounter between a designer and Louis Vuitton's creative artisans, a mixing of their different savoir-faires in an imaginative interpretation of the idea of travel.
Taking place this year in the spectacular Palazzo Serbelloni on Corso Venezia, one is greeted by spiral staircase adorned with the lanterns designed by the Dutchman Marcel Wanders. On the first floor, we enter the first two rooms which have been dedicated to the creations of the Campana brothers, playful organic shapes are manifested in oyster like sofas with huge eggs and feathers on each side.
In the room next door a living room set up where the first pieces by
India Mahdavi are presented, among them the Talisman Table with exemplifies Mahdavi’s multicultural sensibility. Inspired by the nomadic hospitality of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Crossing the hallway we then enter the main exhibition room if you will, where a series of 6 furniture islands present works from almost all of the protagonists. Made up of
chairs, sofas, lamps, coffee tables, sofa, and dining rooms tables, the whole room is accentuated by a ceiling installation made up of
a dizzying amount of lanterns, that hang suspended like perpetual frozen droplets.
The Italian duo
Zanellato / Bortotto makes its debut with Mandala Screen, a screen composed of three modular parts, in a sophisticated weaving of precious Louis Vuitton leather. Inspired by nomadic craftsmanship, the screen is made in soft colors that recall the Venetian lagoon at sunset. The Serpentine dining table by
Atelier Oï is a game of weights and tensions between the crossed legs in walnut, held together by finely crafted Louis Vuitton blue leather straps.
We then enter the large dining room, which holds
Anemona, created by
Biagetti atelier, a precious dining table with glass top and wavy base covered in soft natural Louis Vuitton leather on the outside and contrasting blue enamel on the inside. In the adjacent room,
Marcel Wanders enriches the Collection with four new objects: the eye-catching couple Diamond Sofa and Armchair in woven ash covered in leather; Venice, a lamp inspired by traditional Venetian lanterns and Diamond Vase, a vase made of red Murano glass, hand-blown, suspended and protected by leather straps.
The final room is an endlessly mirrored exhibition of chairs created by the design duo Raw Edges. Joyful, playful and infinitely customizable seats that, like the traditional Louis Vuitton trunks, can be hand painted with special designs.
Louis Vuitton once again provides what will sure to be a highlight of this year's Design Week and we highly recommend stopping by to see this specular presentation.
Open daily 11-20:00, from 8-14th of April at Palazzo Serbelloni,
Corso Venezia, 16, Milano.
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