Teget, the Parisian Homeware Brand for Chic and Cosy Living

1. Who is it? Teget is the new brand designed by Serbian artist Ana Kraš, and ranges from selling lamps and side tables to sofa covers, cushions and clothes
2. Why do I want it? In a world full of filters and trends, Teget speaks its own functional, nostalgic language
3. Where can I find it? Teget is available via the brand’s website

Who is it? Ana Kraš has lived many different lives, whether working as a designer or art director, photographing campaigns for brands like Maryam Nassir Zadeh or collaborating with Danish furniture sweetheart Hay on her iconic Bonbon lamp shades. After a decade in the art, fashion and design worlds, this May, the Paris-based, Serbian artist has now brought all these disciplines together in the form of Teget, which translates to “navy blue” in her mother tongue. The intimate universe of homeware, fashion and everything in between was born out of the desire to create freely without compromises and to have full control over decision-making. Over the years, Kraš has taken on many roles in various projects, but didn’t always feel like her vision was truly realised from start to finish. “The projects I worked on never fully reflected my taste, as I would say my taste is not really what’s popular,” she says. Now, together with her partner Ruben Moreira, who takes care of the business side of things, Kraš finally has the freedom to design and direct whatever she likes to see, own, or wear.

“Even back in the day, everyone always told me I have to pick one thing, otherwise, no one would take me seriously,” remembers Kraš, who studied furniture design and interior architecture back in Belgrade. After following her gut and sticking to what has always felt right, she wanted to create brand that didn’t focus on just one kind of product. “You should always be open,” says the interdisciplinary artist, who doesn’t make any distinction between the design and fashion world. “Putting anything in a category or frame that is constraining is not a good thing.”

Why do I want it? Kraš’s designs are simple and functional yet infused with memories of her childhood and cultural upbringing. “I grew up surrounded by paper,” she reminisces about the countless hours she spent as a kid in the copy shop of her parents. With her all-time favourite material in mind – treating herself means buying “really nice paper” – it’s been crucial to add lamps to the first collection, exploring different colours and textures.

Another example of nostalgia is the Mara series, which consists of laminated furniture pieces named after Kraš’s late grandmother, whose kitchen was entirely covered in the synthetic material. And even the story behind the sofa covers of the first collection drop, which resemble a modern Rothko painting, holds dear memories. “Since I remember having a sofa in my life, it was always covered with a piece of fabric, which never had the right size,” she recalls. As a self-declared homebody who spends “too much time inside,” the living room in her Paris apartment with its two sofas became her favourite hangout spot. Surrounded by her objects and all the things she uses every day, home is where Kraš really enjoys solitude. “It feels like a friend,” she says.

A piece of home is also in the fabric collaboration with the forward-thinking fashion company Unspun, titled Static Noise. It’s a nod to the pixel pattern of no television signal the Serbian artist often experienced in her childhood. Even today, she’s still fascinated by these kinds of errors, finding beauty in computer glitches and frozen screens. For Kraš, there’s no such thing as ugly. “I don’t believe in good or bad design, it’s really a matter of taste,” says the artist, who defies trends because they don’t allow people to express themselves. “I’d rather see an extremely ugly thing than something I’ve seen a million times.”

Where can I find it? Teget is available via the brand’s website.