Doshi Levien

, otherwise known as the London design team of Jonathan Levien and Nipa Doshi, would seem to have an aesthetic somewhere between thrift store chic and the Jean-Pierre Jeunet of Amelie. As it turns out, however, it's difficult to pin the duo down, since each visit to their website results in a different landing page-this time, a grid-studded geometric stadium seat in avocado green; the next, a brick wall painted white and dotted with what appear to be children's drawings but are, in fact, sketches of the next project. Only on the third click was I treated to the asymmetrical profile of Paper Planes (for Moroso), a couple of complementary armchairs that toy with perspective while engaging in all manner of unusual upholstery.

Paper Planes. Designed by Nipa Doshi Jonathan Levien for Moroso.

The chairs' name refers to the elegant lines created in the simple act of folding paper such that it will glide across the room (and right into your brother's eye, if the wind is right). In truth, I could never persuade mine to take flight, and a more likely scenario was that my older brother's expert creation would home in on me-at least I had the satisfaction of crumpling it into a useless ball before throwing it back.

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The Paper Planes chair, to the contrary, is built to endure. The piece is made of a steel under-structure and topped with cold-cured polyurethane foam upholstery. But the real story behind Paper Planes is in its conception. The fabric is meant to mimic (or integrate) certain elements of Swarovski Crystals: "The idea is that the crystals are integrated into the design, so as to become almost invisible, hidden by the checked lines, and reappear only when the light gleams off them." Therein, the synthesis between the ornate and the mathematical, the subtle gleam of an obscured crystal and the architectural allure of folded graph paper.

Paper Planes comes in two fabrics-Jacquard or a printed Kvadrat-and in dozens of bespoke colors. It's also available with a high or standard backrest. The latter can be integrated into modular seating configurations.

Via MocoLoco.