Mention Kartell and interior design connoisseurs will immediately think about the “4867” chair designed by Joe Colombo in 1965, the “4025” table lamp by Olaf Von Bohr or the more recent “Bookworm” bookcase by Ron Arad and the see-through “Louis Ghost” chair and vase-shaped stool “La Boheme” by Philippe Starck.
The list of designers who created pieces for Kartell is very long: in the 50s the company worked with Carlo Barassi and Roberto Menghi, Gino Colombini and Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.
In the 60s Joe Colombo and his futuristic designs prevailed, together with Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper’s, while Giotto Stoppino and Anna Castelli Ferrieri created further pieces between the 70s and the 80s.
Further collaborations followed with Vico Magistretti, Patricia Urquiola, Antonio Citterio, Oliver Löw and Ferruccio Laviani.
Throughout the years the company produced every kind of interior design element you may think of, from lamps to chairs, tables, bookcases, dish and magazine racks, ash trays and orange squeezers just to mention a few.
All the pieces, characterised by extremely modern shapes and silhouettes, were, and still are, made out of plastic. I do have a fascination with plastic designs and, while I do love traditional materials, I feel very attracted by extremely modern shapes and silhouettes.
Indeed, I do feel I have a split personality and, while part of me feels a bit like Monsieur Hulot in Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle (1958), the other part wouldn't mind living in the extremely modern house owned by the Arpels in this film.
The latter live in an automated and almost robotic house and surround themselves with minimalist pieces of furniture. Gerard, the Arpels’ son, prefers to spend time with his uncle Monsieur Hulot – played in the film by Tati himself – who lives in an old fashioned building and seems to prefer a traditional lifestyle and very classic clothes (he always goes around in a trench coat accessorised with a hat).
The Arpels try to do everything that’s possible to turn Hulot into one of their own, even getting him a job at Monsieur Arpel’s Plastac factory, yet things do not turn as envisaged by the technologically advanced family.
Henri Schmitt created the set decorations for this film, while costumes were designed by Jacques Cottin who also worked with Jacques Tati on Jour de fête (1949) and Playtime (1967) and appeared in 1970 in a cameo role as Monsier Hulot in François Truffaut's Bed and Board.
What I love about this film is the striking clash of cultures between Hulot and the Arpels’ world. The dichotomy between traditional and modern trends often ends up producing in the film extremely funny moments like Monsieur Hulot's discovery of a puzzling bouncing jug in the kitchen.
In the film the Arpels are surrounded by extremely modern pieces of furniture, yet their clothes, though slightly trendier than Hulot's, can't be considered as extremely futuristic.
It's interesting to note how, in the last few years, a few interior design companies producing modern furniture launched capsule collections with fashion designers, trying to apply their knowledge and experience to clothes and accessories.
Kartell started collaborating with fashion companies, releasing collections of shoes designed by normaluisa, and also launching the project “Mademoiselle à la Mode”, that saw leading names of the fashion industry reinterpreting Starck’s iconic “Mademoiselle” chair.
For the next Spring/Summer season Kartell is continuing its collaboration with normaluisa with a new colour range for the “Glue Cinderella” ballerinas and the “Lady” wedge sandals, but it’s also releasing a special “Moschino Loves Kartell” collection of flat ballet shoes.
The collaboration was launched last week at Florence’s Pitti W_Woman with an Alice in Wonderland-like installation evoking Kartell’s imaginative world and Moschino’s surrealist universe.
This is not the first time Kartell and Moschino join forces.
A while back the fashion house upholstered Starck’s “Mademoiselle” chairs in original fabric and used them to furnish the Milan-based Moschino hotel.
The “Bow Wow” flat ballet shoe will be available in a typical Moschino palette evoking Olive Oyl's style and comprising red, white and black, but also in summery colours such as peach, yellow, green and blue, and will be characterised by an interwoven plastic motif and by Moschino’s iconic bow.
The shoes are manufactured with an Italian industrial moulding process using top quality, non-toxic thermoplastic and recyclable technopolymer.
The “Moschino Loves Kartell” collection will be available from January 2011 from multi-brand boutiques, single-brand Moschino stores and Kartell flag stores.
I guess Monsieur Hulot would have never adapted to today's trendy thermoplastic shoes, yet I'm sure the Arpels would have probably approved.
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great clips. and the Moschino Loves Kartell flats look wicked.
Posted by: Alison | June 25, 2010 at 04:50 AM