Dion Lee x DesignByThem Furniture Collection Launching in Milan.

DesignByThem is excited to present their new collaboration between founders and industrial designers Sarah Gibson and Nicholas Karlovasitis, and Australian fashion designer Dion Lee. This furniture collection is the first interdisciplinary collaboration for both Australian brands, merging fashion and industrial design principles. Three years in the making, this exciting collaboration began as a casual conversation.

“The design originally started with a concept Dion and I discussed during a visit to Milan,” says Gibson. “The experimental approach that Dion undertakes is something we align with. The concept has undergone quite a lot of development with six rounds of prototyping and material experimentations. It was important that the unique visual aesthetic balanced with the aspirations of a timeless design.”

Now making its international debut, the new DL Lounge Chair and DL Bench will be launching at Milan Design Week 2019 at DesignByThem’s solo show in the Isola Design District. The exhibition will also celebrate the young but mighty local brand’s 12 years of producing Australian Design.

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The DL Lounge Chair and Bench couple the iconic sculptural tailoring recognised in Dion Lee garments with the timeless structural details of GibsonKarlo designs. Referencing the iconic Bauhaus slung leather furniture typology, the DL Lounge Chair and Bench combine organic materials and angular silhouettes with the use of Italian saddle leather tensioned over a steel frame.

“I have always loved the slung leather designs of the Bauhaus era and designing with saddle leather has always been something that I’ve wanted to do,” says Karlovasitis. “I love how the leather is a warm, soft yet structural element of the design. It is a unique quality of this material. Along with utilising the saddle leather, we wanted to reference Dion’s woven and structured design elements, combining these with traditional furniture making methods in order to create a visual lightness and interactivity.”

The challenge was to translate the movement of wearable textiles into a static functional object. Taking inspiration from Dion Lee’s signature weaving techniques, the durable saddle leather is woven throughout the metal frame to construct a fluid yet geometric form that champions the natural material.

The DL Collection is available in a range of saddle leather colours with a powder coated or polished chrome frame.

See the collection for the first time during Milan Design Week 2019 at Studio Via Farini, Via Carlo Farini 35, Milano (April 9th to 14th, 2019). More information here.

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[Images courtesy of DesignByThem. Photography by Pete Daly.]