Vancouver, Canada based design and manufacturing studio, Molo Design, is using innovative materials to create artistic home decor pieces. During this season of ICFF 2019 in New York City, the company showcased an impressive series of brand new products for the first time in North America.
House Tipster host and Arch-Interiors designer Christopher Grubb was able to speak with Molo Design co-owner and co-designer Stephanie Forsythe in the company’s mesmerizing showroom at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Through their conversation, we learned about the “aluminum textile material” that’s bringing these latest pieces to life.
These striking (and surprisingly comfortable) pieces, including a sofa, ottoman, and table set-up were crafted from a non-woven textile that is underlaying a coating of aluminum, according to Forsythe.
As the Molo Design team demonstrated their pieces, we learned that they are both put together and then easily collapsed through an accordion-like folding system. Forsythe and her husband Todd MacAllen came up with the concept together, inspired by both the form and the function.
“We began out of architecture school, my husband and I, just kind of experimenting a little,” Forsythe said.
“We’ve always been very hands-on with materials, and in this particular case, we were working on a lot of different architecture competitions and the one thing we kept coming into was flexibility,” she said. “We were always looking for flexibility, in how a space can change over time, day to night, as a tenant moves or grows.”
For the collapsible furniture items, it was all about the idea of re-gaining that coveted flexibility within a space.
“We started imagining abstractly, if you were to compress your bedroom when you weren’t sleeping in it, and it kind of disappeared,” she explained. “Now you have a larger living space. It’s more of a system than a fixed product.”
Molo Design also crafts these items in a paper version, and offers lighting options created from the same materials.
“The white version is translucent, and the aluminum-coated or other colors are completely opaque,” Forsythe explained. “You have the choice of illuminating a wall or these cloud-like forms.”
Of course, clients can pick up a single ottoman or cloud lamp for their space, but all the pieces can be used as a room-creating system rather than a bunch of standalone products.
“In building a space, you use it like giant stretchy Lego,” Forsythe said. “You can make any shape you want, it’s a new toy everyday.”
To hear even more about the latest Molo Design collection designs and take a closer look around the brand’s ICFF booth, be sure to watch a recap of our Facebook live video with Christopher Grubb and Joseph Di Benedetto in the player below.
Want more of the hottest brands in interior design on your radar? Stay tuned for more exclusive brand coverage and expert interviews straight from ICFF 2019, coming soon to House Tipster Industry.
