Giro collection by Vincent Van Duysen
The initial and core idea and research behind this collection was about the rope, using it in a different way by sewing them together in order to create the shape of the product itself. A big source of inspiration has been the Orkney Chair*. As a great example of vernacular product design, this classic has inspired me to draw inspiration from the past with an eye to today’s and Kettal’s technology expertise. Whereas in the Orkney the rope was made of real ropes, Giro hinges on the flexibility of recycled polypropilente rope and on the necessity to produce such a collection industrially. There is a respect for the tradition and craftsmanship but translated to an actual modern up to date version taking all the profit of the actual technology and know-how of Kettal.
Based on a natural material to a very sustainable material that can face all kind of weather. The result is a very comfortable, welcoming look and feel. The start of a range that boasts warmth, elegance and coziness. The collection consists of dining chairs and tables, sofas and center & side tables.
The combination with teak gives it a very natural, authentic aspect.
The materials are the protagonists of the collection, which seems almost not designed, it comes naturally together. Therefore, the attention to details is essential. That’s why we attached a deep attention to the intrinsic qualities of each material: the pattern of the rope (twisted), its thickness, its stitching and sewing details. But also, the joinery details, definition of edge radius, sections of the teak.
In Giro, we have some variety of shapes, textures and materials (see the difference between the seating items and the coffee and side tables). And still all the items merge harmoniously together to create a warm, tactile and pleasant atmosphere. Giro is a collection who can blend into interiors and exteriors due to its tactility and pure lines. It’s somehow related to my architectural work. This was our first collaboration with Kettal. It was a quite intense and efficient way of working together. The process of developing these new materials was really a challenge for them and for us and it seems that our mutual understanding resulted in a very nice collection, which expresses both Kettal’s and VVD’s vision.
Available in four frame colors and a wide range of Terrain Element fabrics and Tonale.
*The Orkney Chair
The study of vernacular furniture can teach us a lot about not only the development of understandings of furniture, nor only of the development ofsocieties and cultures, nor nor only only about relationships between furniture and wider realities, but also how the position of furniture as a cultural good, as a good embedded in a culture and society, can see furniture serve as a component of projected understandings of heritage and identity, and in doing so can endow attributes on an object of furniture it doesn’t naturally, inherently, possess.