Seats, sofas and lighting tend to take the lion’s share of media coverage during Salone del Mobile, but high-end carpet manufacturer Nodus will likely be grabbing attention with its eye-catching rugs – created by leading designers Sam Baron and Luca Nichetto – on view at Zona Brera (via Cavalieri del Santo Sepolcro 3).
The director of Fabrica (Benetton’s creative agency), Baron has designed a round rug defined by a pink fringe hand-tufted in concentric circles. Called Jupon, a French word meaning petticoat or undergarment, the 250-centimetre wool carpet looks a bit like a ballerina’s tutu left on the floor.
Luca Nichetto will be showing two carpets: Morgane, which incorporates his cartoon drawings of people dining, and small animals – dogs, mice and rabbits – frolicking about; and Regata Storica, a more subdued abstraction of kayak shapes floating in an expanse of gray-hued 10-millimetre pile. All three rugs are handmade in India.
Nodus, however, isn’t the only company launching new pieces by Nichetto. Based in Stockholm, the 37-year-old is quickly becoming one of the most in-demand designers. Just like last year, his will be a recurring name at both off-site events and at the fair, where such brands as Casamania, Cassina, De Padova and One Nordic of Finland will be debuting a number of his products.
He has also collaborated with Oki Sato of Nendo to launch seven new products. The two designers first met last year over a cup of coffee in Stockholm, and decided to work together out of mutual respect for each other’s work. The idea was hatched initially as a joke, but by December both were well into realizing the collection. They used a variation on a Japanese creative process called “tanka,” where one person begins a poem and another finishes it. The exhibition, titled Nichetto = Nendo, will be on view April 9 to 14 at Foro Buonaparte 48, Milan.
