Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
Metamorfosi
In the right hands, a mess of textile scraps can be reborn as something beautiful. The result of a collaboration between Paola Lenti and the Campana Brothers, this exuberant collection of amorphous seating and rugs is made of collaged offcuts from Lenti’s colourful furniture designs, which have been fixed to a felt fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. In addition to using polyester fibre made from reclaimed single-use plastics, the design and manufacturing team also partnered with a group that provides opportunities for migrant men and women to produce the Metamorfosi collection.
Appearing like fantastical creatures from the deep sea, the pieces in the Metamorfosi collection capture the imagination in a truly delightful way. They are also proof positive that waste materials can be given a new and exuberant life, especially in the hands of like-minded creatives who place a high value on ecological, social and corporate responsibility.
Before their collaboration on Metamorfosi, both the designers and the manufacturer were disrupters of design in their own right: Since forming their studio in São Paulo in 1984, the Campana brothers have become known for extraordinary genre-bending works that blur the line between fine art and design, while Paola Lenti has been merging traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge innovation and sustainable material exploration since its inception in 1994.
The project was sparked when Lenti recognized the potential in the vast quantities of remnant threads and material scraps left over from the production of the company’s vibrant furniture collections. After initial meetings over Zoom, Lenti sent the Campanas a box stuffed with an assortment of these errant fabrics (mainly polyester fibres derived from diverted and recycled plastic bottles), which the two considered an absolute treasure. “It was full of so many beautiful materials of all kinds,” says Humberto. “For me, these were the true riches, and I immediately began to picture so many possibilities.
To fabricate the five informal seating options and one rug dreamed up by the Campana brothers (Metamorfosi was one of their final projects before Fernando’s death in late 2022), the waste scraps and threads are first hand- sorted by length, colour and texture. This bounty is then reworked and applied by hand to a base fabric composed of 96 per cent recycled PET felt; the resultant upholstery is wrapped around a recyclable polyethylene foam mixed with an ecological polyester fibre made from plastic waste.
Woven into the entire process is the two studios’ shared vision for socially and ethically responsible production: Paola Lenti partnered with Como-based atelier CouLture Migrante, a social entrepreneurship project that provides opportunities to migrant women and men seeking asylum, to hire and train people to work closely with the brand’s master craftspeople and bring Metamorfosi to fruition.
The result of a collaboration between Paola Lenti and the Campana Brothers, this exuberant collection of amorphous seating and rugs is made of collaged offcuts from Lenti’s colourful furniture designs.
