Rattan furniture can make perfect coffee or bedside tables, trays and breakfast lap decks. Ethnic-inspired contemporary furniture collection designed by Alain Gilles for Vincent Sheppard subverts the rules of conventional furnishing by dissipating a few well-grounded prejudices on modern complements’ functionalism.
Forget any out-dated ideas of functional objects lacking of fine ornamental and material structure: indeed, recently unveiled at Maison&Object in Paris, the Basket collection boasts a naive, warm, all-embracing and playful feel despite its strict contemporary design.
The Belgian designer was able to blend natural materials, graphic style and smart functionality all in one while keeping each component’s visual texture untouched. See the coffee table with its thick woven rattan basket, external metal structure and solid wooden top, which can be used as both a complementary feature of sofas or beds: apart from the basket being a versatile container, the removable top can be used as an ideal food tray or breakfast lap deck.
Also, the collection include a selection of rattan seats revisited with a more contemporary perspective: by remodelling the classical rattan seats – whose structure is traditionally made of thicker rattan parts and a skin made of thinner woven rattan – the goal was to treat both as separate elements. To this end, a dialogue was developed between both materials, so that the external metal structure is highlighted as a bold element available in different colours thus bringing a refreshing and modern look. Smooth and rounded components are meant to interact within a much rigid – almost art deco – silhouette so to give the most lightweight and fluid of all visual effects.
Opening Photo: HIGH FUNCTIONALITY, SMOOTH AND SINUOUS DESIGN, CONTRASTING MATERIAL COMBINATIONS: THE RECIPE BY BELGIAN DESIGNER ALAIN GILLES FOR VINCENT SHEPPARD’S LATEST VERSATILE COLLECTION
