Movie: in the last of our series of exclusive video interviews for Moroso, London design duo Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay of Raw Edges explain what's special about working with the Italian furniture brand.
"[Moroso creative director] Patrizia is so busy," says Alkalay. "But's what's nice is that when you go there she really keeps the day for you. She spends time with you as a designer and you feel really part of this Moroso family."
"It's really nice when we are working on a project just to spend time in the prototyping workshop," adds Mer. "Everyone is involved. Patrizia is involved and the prototyping people are there. Just spending time there is very inspiring."
Alkalay says that one of the things that's special about Moroso is that they have retained their manufacturing expertise in-house.
"Now you have lots of companies that are more like editors, they just collect designers that they like and they farm out production elsewhere," he explains. "At Moroso they're really making stuff. I mean, you go there and see material and you can touch it. It's not just an office with computers. They have the know-how, they have the heritage in upholstery."
Mer and Alkalay's studio Raw Edges has designed two products for Moroso.
The studio's Kenny chair features a simple pocket-like textile seat, which is attached to an oak frame.
"It's Kvadrat fabric and it's only a very long rectangle that's folded into this curvaceous shape," explains Mer. "The idea was to celebrate the simplicity of the pattern of the fabric and to reach something that would be very comfortable."
Alkalay believes this design approach is representative of the studio's work in general.
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"We like to create shapes that maybe look a bit odd or unfamiliar but they are still functioning," he explains. "So when you use this chair, although it might not look the most comfortable, it is [actually] very comfortable."
Raw Edges also designed a stool called Sugar for the Italian brand, which features a simple cushion that is clamped onto wooden legs to create a shape like a wrapped sweet.
"Sugar, the candy look-alike stools, are just cushions with legs sticking to them," Alkalay says. "It is just celebrating joy and happiness really."
This movie was filmed at the Moroso Loves London exhibition at Moroso's London showroom on Rosebery Avenue and is part of a six-part series of exclusive video interviews with designers featured in the show.
You can watch all the movies below.