Virtual Design Festival teamed up with Dutch design brand Lensvelt to host a design-focused conversation between designer Fabio Novembre, Lensvelt founder Hans Lensvelt and Marcus Fairs.

The final talk in our VDF x Lensvelt collaboration highlighted Novembre's first product for Lensvelt, the 2019 New Balance Sofa.

The modular sofa system features sloping armchairs, single sofas and a chaise lounge, all upholstered in various colour combinations.

Novembre has been a friend of Hans Lensvelt's since 2000 when the designer was the speaker at the Architect Interieur Prijs organised by Lensvelt. Since then he has worked with Lensvelt on a number of interior projects, including the UNAhotels in Florence.

The discussion between Novembre and Lensvelt was moderated by Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and saw the designer talk about his work for Lensvelt.

It was part of our collaboration with Lensvelt for Virtual Design Festival that also included Screentime interviews with designers Maarten Baas and Joep van Lieshout, both of which have also designed products for the brand.

Novembre was one of the 35 designers featured in the video message for the launch of Virtual Design Festival in April and recorded a greeting in which he called for a new world order to be created in response to the societal conditions created by the coronavirus pandemic.

"People say: let's go back to normality. But what is normal?" he said. "The virus is in the system that we used to live in."

"The answer to a catastrophe is not about re-establishing the previous order. It's about creating a new one."

Among Novembre's recent projects is a font design for sportswear brand Adidas' varsity VRCT jacket. In 2017, he created six beds "inspired by the world of dreams" for mattress brand PerDormire. Each bed refers to a different aspect of fairytales, from castles and moons to queens and princesses.

The designer is also the scientific director of Milan's Domus Academy school of design, a role that he was appointed to in 2018.

About Virtual Design Festival

Virtual Design Festival runs from 15 April to 10 July 2020. It brings the architecture and design world together to celebrate the culture and commerce of our industry, and explore how it can adapt and respond to extraordinary circumstances.

To find out what's coming up at VDF, check out the schedule. For more information or to join the mailing list, email [email protected].