Serena Confaloniere—she of the blazing red hair, Levis-blue jumpsuit, and forest-green socks—has collaborated with Radici on the eclectic new Chroma collection.

The two textiles above are different colorways of the flagship design, Madame, which “hides within its sharp geometries a pattern reminiscent of marble and natural stone.”

Madame is certainly elusive, definitely hypnotic. Confalonieri has achieved a quality rarely seen in textiles: liminality. The chromatic swirls and translucent trapezoids seemingly morph and dissolve, always on the verge of becoming other.

Madame is derivative of the Renaissance technique of marbling. Employed with the medium of paper, marbling is an “aqueous surface decoration,” whereby color is floated on water or another viscous solution and transferred to an absorbent surface. The technique approximates the star-struck patterns found in natural marble. As seen here, it also evokes the way paint poured together carves a sinuous and surprising trail of complement and contrast.

Perhaps a more pedestrian take: Madame reminds me of the classic colors of Play-Doh squished together by impatient hands, well before the tactile immersion transforms to inevitable tragedy and the whole becomes a mono-chromatic sludge.

Madame is but one of Chroma’s eight forthcoming designs (divided into four pattern families) that will debut at Salone. Radici calls Madame an “anticipation” of the whole collection, which is widely anticipated indeed. According to Confalioneri, “Chroma moves across different eras and aesthetics; it starts from Pointillism, a dotted version of Impressionism, and moves through charcoal drawing, used by Picasso, Matisse, and Hockney, to the Spritzdekor technique of 1930s Bauhaus ceramics, ending with marbling.”

Salone—and the reveal of the entire Chroma Collection—is a bit more than a month off. For now, we’ll have to content ourselves with the machinations of Madame and this tantalizing glimpse of swatches presided over by the designer’s adorable dog.

See Chroma at Corso Garibaldi 17, within the Camera Picta installation, also designed by Confalioneri, as part of our extensive coverage of Salone beginning with a preview week on April 7 and continuing through show’s end on the 21st.