Italian designer Paola Lenti is a master colourist, crafting bold furniture and floor coverings from traditional yarns and high-tech textiles. She conceives her pieces as landscapes destined for both indoor and outdoor use. This year in Milan, Paola shaped a new landscape, presenting recently developed pieces alongside iconic and re-editioned designs.
A veteran of the fair, the designer was looking for a new space – somewhere integrated into the urban fabric, open to the city and surrounded by greenery. “I wanted a lively place that made people feel good,” she says, adding, “and was a positive oasis for Milan.” This led the designer to a former industrial building just outside the city centre.
In an abandoned state, the space reflects the tension between past and present – something Paola has become increasingly fascinated with since launching her brand in 1994. She considers this year, 2023, to be a fork in the road, whereas a designer, one can either choose to respectfully reinterpret the past or maintain a strong creative impulse towards the future. In pursuit of the latter, she consistently looks for sustainable ways to manufacture her pieces, particularly for outdoor spaces.
Produced in partnership with Dedece
This year, Paola Lenti celebrated 25 years of collaboration with Francesco Rota, the Milanese designer with whom the brand released their first indoor seating pieces in 1998. Over the years, the collaboration has given life to pieces that are highly recognisable – pieces like the iconic Linea and Wave chaise lounges, designed for indoor and outdoor use, respectively. On her long-standing partnership and friendship with Francesco, Paola says, “We both take a similar approach to creativity and quality. We follow our intuitions, not the trends.”
This article was featured in the latest issue of est magazine, the Milan 2023 Special Issue.
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