Introducing Bohinc Studio, a London-based furniture brand combining the playfulness of Postmodernism with the form-led appreciation of the Bauhaus
- Who is it? Bohinc Studio is a London-based furniture and objects brand founded by renowned industrial and jewellery designer Lara Bohinc
- Why do I want it? The playfulness of 1980s Postmodernism meets the form-led material appreciation of the Bauhaus
- Where can I find it? At Bohinc Studio’s London showroom and online
Who is it? For renowned designer Lara Bohinc (MBE), furniture and objects venture Bohinc Studio is a return to her beginnings. Although widely celebrated for her work as a jewellery designer and consultant to the likes of Montblanc, Gucci and Cartier – whom she worked with for more than a decade – Bohinc is quick to remind us of her roots in industrial design and metalwork. Having studied Industrial Design at at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts, the designer relocated to London to complete an MA focused on metalwork, as well as jewellery, at the Royal College of Art. Upon graduating, she won British Fashion Council’s New Generation Award and launched her own studio. “Life takes funny turns. I did some jewellery for a friend’s catwalk and then lots of people started asking me to do it for shows, and that was how I got into jewellery,” recalls Bohinc.
Showing for a second time at Milan Design Week, Bohinc Studio’s work sees the designer turning her hand to furniture and sculptural accessories, a definitive step outside the cycles of fashion. “After years of working on small scales I missed working on big objects. I wanted to create free-standing objects not limited by the body and how we wear it,” explains Bohinc. “People asked me to do small objects, and then I just started designing again. It was for the Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition [in 2014] that I did the first piece with Lapicida, and then I did another two collaborations with Lapicida. Then I realised I wanted to open a studio just for the development of furniture and objects.” Although the studio does work on bespoke commissions, the designer’s enviable talent for locating the sweet spot sitting between the refinement of materials such as marble and metal and the playful peculiarity of swollen proportions is most evident in her signature pieces. Entirely void of pretension, she claims her designs start life as crude drawings sketched on Post-It notes, which are then stuck on her computer screen as she develops them digitally.
Why do I want it? At 2018’s FuoriSalone, Bohinc Studio will present Since the World is Round, a collection of “celestially inspired” furniture and objects born of Bohinc’s life-long love for the art of metalwork. In seamless alignment with the location of her latest launches, Bohinc cites architects such as Antonino Cardillo and Carlo Scarpa as prominent influences. For lovers of Italian Postmodernism, the influence of the Memphis movement will be apparent in the playful use of geometric shapes and blocked colours. In stark contrast to the frivolity of Memphis, but evidenced in her advocation of metal as a versatile and highly sustainable material, the designer also speaks warmly on being influenced by the accessible, function-led design of the Bauhaus.
For the first time in her career, Bohinc’s new collection includes chairs – the studio’s maiden voyage in the seas of upholstered furniture. The Solar chair’s slim metal outline is juxtaposed with plump pastel cushioning, meaning the designer’s debut seat is the perfect perch for those unable to choose between the exquisite minimalism of Water Gropius’ revolutionary principles and the overt indulgence of Ettore Sottsass.
Where can I find it? Visitors to Milan Design Week 2018 can find Bohinc Studio’s latest works at the Centrale District during FuoriSalone, at Alcova, and at Fieramilanocity, Viale Scarampo. Items can be purchased directly from the studio’s W2 showroom.
