Milan 2014: an armchair made entirely from foam and designed by Canadian designer Philippe Malouin is being exhibited in Milan.

The chair, called Mollo, has been designed for British brand Established & Sons and is Malouin's first project for a commercial furniture brand.

The chair is made without any hard internal structure. The design aesthetic came about as Malouin was experimenting with the expanded polystyrene foam – an everyday foam that you might find in a mattress.

"We always knew we wanted to make something super soft and comfortable and [Mollo] kind of happened by accident," said Malouin.

The seat and arms are created using stitches to make shapes in the material. "Imagine you are putting your finger on the foam, where that pressure is you place a stitch and that creates the seat which is lower than the armrests," he explained. "This curves the foam is such a way that gives it its plumpness and shape."

The prototype was made from a single piece of foam, but it will be produced using two pieces. The foam is upholstered in velvet.

Speaking about why he decided to work with Established & Sons, Malouin said, "they just came to the studio to meet me at the beginning of this experiment and they were interested in developing it. I rarely contact people because I'm too shy but I've always admired the brand and wanted to work with them."

The chair is being shown until 13 April at 
Istituto dei Ciechi, 7 Via Vivaio, Milan.