Design Miami: a hanging cabinet covered in leather tassels and a hammock inspired by pasta ribbons are among the objects created by designers including Fernando and Humberto Campana and Atelier Oï for French fashion house Louis Vuitton (+ slideshow).
Above: Maracatu hanging travel cabinet by the Campana Brothers
The designers were asked to come up with portable objects inspired by Louis Vuitton's signature luggage and travel accessories. Fernando and Humberto Campana created a hanging travel cabinet made from leather offcuts from Louis Vuitton's workshops.
"Each one is different," Fernando Campana told Dezeen at the launch in Miami. "We named them after the fruits of Brazil – each one has the name of a fruit, because the first idea was that it would be like a fruit hanging from a tree."
"The name Maracatu comes from a dance, a ritual dance from Brazil," added Humberto Campana. "They use wigs and clothes with stripes of cloth, and they twist to make this movement."Â Inside the travel cabinet are shelves and a light, and it also comes in a more minimal brown leather version without the swinging tassels.
Above: hammock by Atelier Oï
Swiss design trio Atelier Oï used long strips of leather and gold rivets to create a hammock inspired by the pinched shape of pasta ribbons.
"When you are playing with the material you find these references, and you find also the solution," designer Patrick Reymond told Dezeen. "We saw that it was interesting to squeeze the leather to create the three-dimensional structure, and to create the comfort and the volume of the object."
Above: stool by Atelier Oï
They also created a folding stool with a thin sheet of aluminium between its leather exterior, allowing it to be packed flat and opened out into a sturdy seat.
"Just with a cut we can create a channel, so we don't have any added elements," said Reymond, explaining that it was inspired by the origami shapes of a Hussein Chalayan skirt.
Above: case for stool by Atelier Oï
"You can fold it and go to the third dimension in one movement," added designer Aurel Aebi.
Above: lamp by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby
Another item in the collection is a glass bell lamp by British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, which is held in a leather carry case. The lamp is solar-powered but can also be charged via a discreet USB port at its base.
Above: table by Christian Liaigre
French designer Christian Liaigre produced a portable travel desk in sycamore wood, leather and aluminium, which folds up into a small briefcase form.
Japanese studio Nendo contributed a lamp made from a curled piece of perforated leather and backlit by LED bulbs.
Above: lamp by Nendo
Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola created a stool that unfurls from a handbag, inspired by Louis Vuitton's Monogram flower pattern.
The collection launched at Louis Vuitton in Miami's Design District during Design Miami this week, and will be available from the New Bond Street branch in London this month.
Other projects at Design Miami we've featured so far this week include an Eiffel Tower-shaped lamp by Studio Job and Glithero's photosensitive ceramic vases. Look out for more news from Miami on Dezeen in the coming days, and check out our photos from the event on Facebook.
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Here's some more information from Louis Vuitton:
Objets Nomades
Louis Vuitton announces Objets Nomades, a limited edition collection of foldable furniture and travel accessories produced in collaboration with leading international designers. These contemporary pieces will be exhibited and available in the New Bond Street Maison in December 2012. The rest of the collection will debut at Art Basel/Design Miami also in December.
Encapsulating the spirit of travel synonymous with Louis Vuitton, the travel desk, stool, hammock and lamp are all made using beautiful nomade leather and have portability at the core of their design. The pieces reference Louis Vuitton and his son Georges’ original bespoke travel commissions from the 19th Century, such as a trunk replete with a folding horsehair mattress for a trip to the Congo, or a trunk with a pull-out desk and a typewriter station. This bespoke service has been reinterpreted for the 21st Century to create a selection of collectible design items that are both beautiful in their form yet also functional in their design.
To create the collection Louis Vuitton has tapped into a pool of design talent. Founded in 1991 in Switzerland by the Neuveville trio Aurel Aebi, Armand Louis and Patrick Reymond, Atelier Oï is an international player in architecture, design and set design. Inspired by the expertise behind Louis Vuitton’s canvas trunk, they have conceived the simple yet spectacular hammock, with its sophisticated ribbons of leather and rivets gilded with fine gold.
The folding stool, also by Atelier Oi, makes use of Louis Vuitton’s leather savoir faire, drawing inspiration from the aesthetics of origami whilst embodying all the label’s values of simplicity, elegance and functionality. A special membrane works as a hinge for the leather panels, allowing the stool to be unfolded into a seat in one single movement once unbuckled from the carry strap.
After graduating from the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, Christian Liaigre became an artistic director then an interior designer. Since 1981 he has been designing collections of simple furniture with clean lines. Inspired by nature, the portable travel desk in sycamore wood, leather and aluminium was originally created for Louis Vuitton in 1990 after a chance encounter with a Tanzania based Brit who dreamed of a desk to observe his captive-bred lion cubs that could ‘be folded up in the back of a Jeep’. It is being reissued in 2012 as part of this limited collection.
Internationally acclaimed designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby founded their studio in 1996 after graduating with Master’s degrees in Architecture from The Royal College of Art in London. Most recently being responsible for the design for the Olympic torch, their work is held in permanent collections around the world including the V&A Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Design Museum, London. Their beautiful glass bell lamp for the collection exhibits simple lines and shape, and when encased in the nomade leather carry case demonstrates how design can celebrate the traditional in a modern way.