Meda (MB), Italy
“Going around our factory I cannot avoid recovering some fabric remnants that are thrown into the scraps bin,” says Paola Lenti.
“Not only because I believe that reuse is a value, but also because I think that the combination of different colors and shapes has in itself an unpredictable beauty. If the scraps stimulate the imagination, why then consider them materials to be thrown away?”
Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana and Paola Lenti have introduced a special edition of unique furniture pieces, in balance between art and design, called “Metamorfosi Chromodoro.”
Five seating pieces and a tapestry have given shape to Paola Lenti body of thought, proposing a more conscious use of raw materials and a renewed dialogue between innovation, craftwork, and social responsibility.
The Chromodoris, a colorful as well as a fascinating marine mollusk, is the inspiration for the Metamorfosi Chromodoro seat with a movable backrest formed by a single, large cylindrical element, which can be positioned as desired, as free in movement as the sinuous body of the animal from which it took its name.
The upholstery consists of a blend of recyclable polyethylene foam and recycled polyester fiber.
The outer seat cover is removable and is made from a synthetic felt to which an ever-changing pattern is applied.
The backrest upholstery in Shaved Mesh is fixed and is made by recovering leftover polyester yarns from the weaving of collection upholstery, processed to produce a tubular elastic knit
Seating platform with a backrest composed of a single, large and independent cylindrical element.
The platform is padded with recyclable expanded polyethylene mixed with Aerelle® blue polyester fiber and a layer of recyclable polyester, encased in fixed cotton covering.
The upholstery of the platform is removable and composed of a layer of synthetic felt—made from polyester fibers derived from the recycling of PET bottles from waste sorting, that will be 100% recyclable again—to which a décor is applied, each time different, made by using production cuttings of the different fabrics and materials in the collection that would otherwise remain unused.
The backrest is simply laid on the platform and can freely move to be placed in the desired position.
The backrest is padded with recyclable expanded polyethylene mixed with Aerelle® blue polyester fiber encased in a fixed covering in three-dimensional black polyester fabric.
The upholstery of the backrest is fixed and made of Maglia Rasata, an elastic tubular knit produced with polyester yarns that remained from the weaving of the indoor fabrics in the collection.
Metamorfosi, therefore, is not only a design project; it is above all the expression of responsible behavior.
It is a choice that for the company also entailed significant changes in the production process and involved also the Coulture Migrante social tailoring atelier in Como, with the aim of providing an opportunity for work integration for women at risk of social exclusion.
For a company like Paola Lenti, which produces its own fabrics by itself, the production of scraps is inevitable. What has always been considered a problem is transformed today into an asset with extraordinary potential.
Project: Metamorfosi Chromodoro
Designers: Estudio Campana
Lead Designers: Fernando and Humberto Campana
Manufacturer: Paola Lenti srl
