For the Milan Salone 2104 I was invited by the Danish fabric manufacturer Kvadrat to develop some furniture using their Divina woven and felted wool range. The Jib stools are made in individually upholstered parts that can be brought together in different combinations, almost like choosing and comparing sample swatches. The geometry of the parts is slightly asymmetrical skewing the assembly. The units can also incorporate longer parts to form, for example, a bench with the same language.

A ‘Jib’ is one of the main sails on a boat.

( All studio photographs © Casper Sejersen for Kvadrat )

One of the challenges of working with the Divina wool is its density which can look very bulky or lumpy along seams if applied as upholstery. I intended the stool legs to appear as solid blocks of colours and did not wish for the seam lines to interfere with the feeling of the geometry. Therefore a small relief channel was cut into the corner of each wooden frame into which the sewn seam is positioned.

The images below show the development of the forms and the upholstery process.

These images show the groove being cut that gives the dense fabric seams relief to lie flat.

To ensure that the fabric remains exactly in place, the thick seam that is fed into the relief channel is held in place with fine pins prior to tensioning the rest of the pattern. The pins are then removed.

The final pieces were on show at Divina - Every Colour is Divine during the Milan Salone 2014.