At Salone: My Beautiful Backside

For Indian-born, London-based designer Nipa Doshi, seeking inspiration and pillaging from her Indian culture has made her one of the most astute upcoming designers.

My Beautiful Backside seating collection. Designed by Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien. Manufactured by Moroso.

Doshi together with partner and husband Jonathan Levien flawlessly blend cultures and influences that result in an arresting juxtaposition of coherent kitsch with mismatched chic. All Doshi Levien creations mirror the freedom and fluidity one might expect to be experienced by a cultural wanderer who is observant and in tune with global design trends. After the famed Charpoy Collection, Doshi Levien give us the My beautiful Backside seating collection. No the name doesn't hint at some megalomaniacal tribute to Miss Doshi's derrière but is a tongue in cheek reference to a certain hackneyed seating arrangement in India.

The idiosyncratic seating collection has been designed for Moroso Italy, which, simply put, is backless and comes with a multitude of cushions to replace the archetypal chair.

At Salone: My Beautiful Backside

The Beautiful Backside Collection is vibrantly opulent, yet doesn't fall in the ostentatious trap which makes it a fascinating contradiction. The cushions come in a myriad of shapes and colors and highlight the metamorphosis of traditional artifacts into a more universal object.

Oversize buttons adorn the Backside (now that's one sentence I thought I'll never write), that are meant to communicate various messages. The buttons not only relay the higher truth, but also seek to shake things up by encouraging its occupants to “Jewel Up.” The collection is upholstered in a new wool fabric designed by Giulio Ridolfo for Kvadrat and the use of gold and silver foiling makes its quintessentially Indian.

The Beautiful Backside Collection is a dynamic rendition of rustling silks, dazzling colors, and avant-garde sensibility. Moroso will mass-produce the customizable collection and if you are in Milan this week, do check it out at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2008.

Images courtesy of DesignBoom.

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