Wallpaper* Design Editor Rosa Bertolli has selected the top 10 furniture releases of 2023 from a year packed with design weeks, fairs and events. From brand launches to new collaborations, the outdoors to the religious, we focus on the colorful, the clever, and the classic. Scroll down to see this year’s best furniture debuts (in no particular order).
Wallpaper top 10 furniture released in 2023
01. Gabriel Tan’s modular furniture for Herman Miller is designed with interaction in mind
(Image source: Courtesy of Herman Miller)
Singapore-born designer Gabriel Tan’s elegant yet lively aesthetic takes on new form in a furniture design duet created in partnership with Herman Miller. The “Luva” modular sofa is named after the Portuguese word for “gloves”. The Cyclade coffee tables are a series of three tables with island-like shapes that come together and separate, paying homage to the supercontinent of Pangea. Seamlessly. “When a design is successful, different people can read it in different ways,” Tan says. “Depending on where you come from, you can interpret and relate to these designs in a completely different way than other people around the world.”
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02. Andu Masebo turns a red Alfa Romeo into furniture
(Image source: Victoria and Albert Museum)
As part of London Design Festival 2023, designer Andu Masebo presented the results of deconstructing a non-ULEZ compliant 1998 Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf into a series of furniture. A nightlight made from car engine parts that casts strange shadows responds to the life story of the car’s first owner. “She was a woman who lost her husband when she owned a car, but she lived an adventurous life, going to Everest and Antarctica,” Masebo said. “After her husband died, she felt his presence, telling her that she was okay.” The designer chose a nightlight as a symbol of a comforting presence in dark times. “I always make very simple objects, but sometimes they resonate with deep stories,” he adds.
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03. Vincent Van Duysen’s debut outdoor furniture from Molteni & C is “inspired by modernism”
(Image credit: Stefan Giffthaler)
Molteni & C debuts in outdoor furniture with two complementary collections by Vincent Van Duysen that celebrate a connection to nature and a sophisticated approach to the home. Giulia Molteni, chief marketing officer of the Molteni Group, believes this is a natural progression for the brand. “Nature is an essential part of our lives,” she says. “It’s a connection aimed at rediscovering the seasons, colors and the joy of the outdoors.”
New products include Landmark, which features a curved chair based on a 1994 unrealized design by Luca Meda (who served as the company’s creative director from 1968 until his death in 1998), and Van Duysen. The collection includes two collections: Time Out, an aluminum furniture series that expresses the design of Affinity with modernism. This outdoor catalog also pays homage to design masters past and present who have contributed to Molteni’s history, such as Gio Ponti, Longirad and Foster + Partners, whose 2010 ‘Arc’ table Reissued in a new outdoor edition as part of the year. launch.
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04. Karl Lagerfeld Maison opens with furniture for book lovers
(Image credit: Karl Lagerfeld Maison)
Karl Lagerfeld Maison, the fashion brand’s new interiors division, will debut during Milan Design Week 2023 with its first collection in collaboration with interior designer Matteo Nunziati. The launch consists of four collections, each named after Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite areas of Paris. “Saint Germain” and “Saint Guillaume” include furniture for the living area and bedroom, “Que Voltaire” is dedicated to the kitchen, and “Rue University” is a lighting collection.
The collection is directly inspired by Lagerfeld’s own approach to interiors. His passion for design was evident in every space he constructed. His highly researched and sophisticated interiors combined classic, historic design with contemporary pieces. “He wasn’t a collector, he was someone who filled his home and his brain with style ideas,” said Caroline Lever, the brand’s senior vice president of image and communications, who worked with Lagerfeld for nearly 40 years. “What was special about Karl was that once he focused on a certain era or style, he quickly became an expert.”
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05. Knoll reissues two of Florence Knoll’s 1954 furniture designs.
(Image credit: Provided by Knoll)
In a true testament to great design, Knoll has reissued two Florence Knoll furniture designs that have been out of production since 1968. The Model 31 lounge chair and Model 33 small sofa pay homage to Florence Knoll’s legacy as a pioneering architect, interior designer, furniture designer, and legend in all things American design. This is an archive. These two designs of hers not only demonstrate the revolutionary influence she had on modern interiors, but almost 70 years later, they still remain simple and efficient, easily adaptable to any space. It is a testament to her forward-thinking vision of unique shapes.
First released in 1954, the Model 31 and Model 33 demonstrate Florence Knoll’s keen attention to detail and form. “These designs feel completely relevant to today,” says Jonathan Olivares, Knoll’s senior vice president of design. “They are at home in modern hospitality environments and serve as a geometric medium for textiles.”
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06. Oswald Boateng reconsiders Poltrona Frau’s classic
(Image credit: Courtesy: Poltrona Frau)
Oswald Boateng and Poltrona Frau have announced ‘Culture and Craft’, a collaboration defined by the Savile Row designer’s interpretation of the Italian furniture company’s classics. Get a glimpse of our extensive collection that will expand in the future. This includes the ‘Chester’ sofa, his 1912 design conceived by the company’s founder and inspired by the Edwardian Chesterfield, and the 1984 ‘Vanity Fair’ chair. Both have unique decorations. Patterns developed by designers.
Boateng enriched the classic furniture design by embossing Frau leather with his signature ‘tribal’ print. A pattern that references traditional Kente cloth motifs, when placed in a design it is both a delicate decoration and a powerful aesthetic statement. The collection combines Poltrona Frau’s long-standing expertise in handcrafted techniques and furniture construction with Boateng’s unique aesthetic and spirit. Delicate yet vivid, the pattern is rendered in vibrant hues that reflect the designer’s work, including red, yellow, purple, blue, green, and black.
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07. Flexform’s ‘Supermax’ sofa is a modern scene stealer
(Image credit: Tommaso Sartori)
When Italian designer Antonio Citterio created the now iconic Max sofa in flexform in 1983, he was the first to incorporate organic forms into a more traditional structure. The sofa’s sculptural design is characterized by a bean-shaped seat resting on a tubular frame and an off-center cylindrical backrest. The model achieved legendary status after Flexform unveiled a series of images at the Milan Triennale of a version with a striped backrest at the base of a spiral staircase. Photographed by Gabriele Basilico with art direction by Natalia Corbetta, the sofa seemed to both harmonize and contrast with the architecture.
Citterio and Flexform recently collaborated to rethink the idea of “Max” and come up with the “Supermax” sofa as a modern interpretation of the original 1983 version. “It started with planning an exhibition to showcase photos of Flexform products,” Citterio recalls. “As I looked over the materials, I asked myself why I shouldn’t launch Max again.”
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08. New small sofa perfect for compact living spaces
(Image credit: Provided by DeSede)
This selection of small sofas combines a thoughtful design approach with the best craftsmanship. Designed by major furniture companies in collaboration with some of today’s best creatives, they are an alternative to full-fledged seating arrangements, equally suited to a compact apartment in Japan or a cramped townhouse in London. Masu. Whether you want to furnish a small space or add beauty and comfort to an empty room, a compact sofa with a length of less than 185 cm will come in handy.
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09. Guillaume Bardet furniture for the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
(Image credit: Courtesy of Galerie Kreo)
French designer Guillaume Bardet has created a series of liturgical objects and furniture for the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris, scheduled for the end of 2024. The Gothic cathedral was partially destroyed by a fire in April 2019, when the roof collapsed. The restoration carefully restored the ruins, recreating Gothic architectural details and recreating the spire added in his 19th century by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Bardet, who is part of the roster of Parisian gallery His Cleo and whose work is defined by sinuous minimalism, was selected by the Archbishop of Paris after a long and rigorous process.
The designers were tasked with creating a cathedral, tabernacle, and baptistery with an altar, lectern, and pews. He developed these in bronze, favoring simple shapes that exude a timeless and elegant approach.
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10. The IKEA 80th Anniversary Collection is a colorful treasure trove of great designs
(Image source: Provided by IKEA)
Nytillverkad is IKEA’s 80th anniversary collection: bold, bright, sustainable and approachable. If you’ve lived with and grown up with IKEA, you may recognize some of them because they’ve all been created before. A collection of back catalogues, using forward-looking materials and fresh new colors.
It makes perfect sense. IKEA launches around 2,500 products a year, making it a treasure trove of great designs. But where to start with such a rich history? For Karin Gustavsson, Nytillverkad’s creative leader, it wasn’t easy. “There was a long list to choose from,” she says. “The only thing we knew for sure was that after the pandemic, people wanted colors and patterns they liked to mix and match.”
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