THE BRITISH DESIGNER COLLABORATES WITH RUG
GURU NANI MARQUINA ON A TEXTILE COLLECTION
THAT PUSHES MATERIALITY AND CRAFT
AS TOLD TO _Elizabeth Pagliacolo
5 Things We
Learned from
Ilse Crawford
Insight
To develop Wellbeing,
Ilse Crawford (right)
worked closely with Nani
Marquina and her network
of artisans in South Asia.
028 _ _SEPT 2019
Subtlety is risky when it comes to introducing a new
collection in Milan. But Ilse Crawford and Nanimarquina
captured attention at Salone del Mobile with a state-
ment about understatement. The Wellbeing collection –
rugs, cushions, a throw, a wall tapestry and an indoor
hammock – eschewed dramatic motifs in favour of
hand-spun, unbleached and (riskiest of all) undyed
natural fibres such as nettle, jute, linen, Tussar silk and
cork. Materials, tactility and craft – and how their
qualities resonate with human senses – form the heart
of the collection. “We really looked forward to this
project; it brought us closer to our essence, which
is to get the most out of the value of craftsmanship,”
explains Nani Marquina. The line also epitomizes the
trend-bucking aesthetic for which Crawford is known.
Azure caught up with the interiors maven to learn more
about her way of working and the lessons therein.1 A unique network of artisans
guarantees a unique collection.
The wool for Wellbeing is Afghan wool, and all the
pieces are made in South Asia, which is one of
the areas where Nani Marquina has her amazing
network of makers. The artisans who made the wall
tapestry in India found some tree bark, polished
by the water in a river they were working near, so
they wove that in. It’s very serendipitous, giving the
collection its own nature rather than a consistent,
manufactured one.2 Tactility is key to well-being.
Materials and how they affect us – that fascinates me
because we are living in a disembodied age and there-
fore I think we crave materiality more than ever. Also,
I think materiality tells you the truth.3 Taking one’s time can be both a
luxury and a necessity.
Sometimes that sense of “we’ve got to launch” is the
most important thing. With Wellbeing, which took two
years, it was more important to ensure the criteria were
correct and that it was going to work. And that takes
time, which is a scarce commodity these days.4 It’s important to consider
conviviality.
At our studio, we love to design spaces that are about
bringing people together. Ett Hem, the hotel we did
in Stockholm, achieved something very unusual in a
high-end hotel: It gets people to talk to each other.
A number of things were done quite consciously to
nudge people together, have them bump into each
other. We also did this in Massimo Bottura’s London
soup kitchen, Refettorio Felix.5 Sustainability equals timelessness.
The most sustainable thing you can do is to not make
things that need to be replaced every five minutes.
We’ve had some clients who are really interested in
making more timeless environments, and it’s not a
question of upmarket or downmarket, or big budgets
or small budgets. It’s really a question of mindset.
studioilse.com, nanimarquina.com