Milan 2014: Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc has created a collection of furniture and products for London design label Sé, influenced by Modernism and sporting motifs (+ slideshow).
Zupanc designed pieces including an armchair, sofa, cabinet, table lamp and a mirror for the collection, which is the third to be launched by Sé since it was founded in 2007. The new products were presented at Spazio Rossana Orlandi in Milan last week.
Sé cofounder Pavlo Schtakleff first came across Zupanc's work in 2011 and said he was keen to work with her because of her "distinct design language", but also because he wanted to work with more female designers.
"I was particularly interested in collaborating with a female designer," Schtakleff said. "Sometimes overlooked within the industry, I felt this would introduce a fresh perspective to the collection; however Nika's creativity and approach spoke for themselves."
Last week Dezeen columnist Kieran Long criticised the dearth of work by female designers on shown in Milan and included Zupanc on a list of women who design brands should consider working with in the future.
For this collection, Zupanc drew on the simplicity of 1950s Modernist furniture and combined this stylistic reference with forms intended to evoke a fictional private sports club.
"With Collection III, I wanted to blend timeless elegance, sensitivity and tenderness with a splash of smoky, determined and even masculine reality," explained the designer.
Materials including marble, brass and wood are used throughout the collection to add a sense of luxury and emphasise the craftsmanship involved in the production of the pieces.
The collection includes a dressing table – the first to be produced by Sé – which features a mirror comprising two offset intersecting circles and a straight central section that provide reflections from different angles.
A curving sofa upholstered in a textured gold fabric is supported by solid brass legs, while mirrors are framed in metallic laurel wreaths in reference to the prizes awarded to athletes in ancient Greece.
A monumental cabinet featuring a grid of shelves behind curved glass doors is embellished with brass details, including handles formed from interconnecting circles.
Marble-topped tables of different heights with slender metal legs can be grouped together as a family.
Some of the rectangular tables feature ceramic surfaces with raised compartments that surround containers topped with spherical handles.
A ceramic table lamp houses its light source inside a dome-shaped shade with a metallic interior. This joins the Full Moon Lamp, which was first exhibited last year and features a round, flat light source mounted on an adjustable arm.
The brand's previous two collections were designed by Jaime Hayon and Damien Langlois-Meurinne.