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Tord Boontje and Moroso brought "the excitement of fashion into furniture"

Movie: in our next exclusive video interview for Moroso, Dutch designer Tord Boontje explains how the fashion industry has influenced his furniture collections for the Italian brand.

Tord Boontje's Carousel collection for Alexander McQueen
Tord Boontje's Carousel collection for Alexander McQueen

"For many years I've worked with Alexander McQueen as a product designer and I've always looked at fashion and how exciting the way they use textiles and print is," Boontje says in the movie, which was filmed at Moroso's London showroom. "We tried to bring some of that into the world of furniture."

Happy Ever After collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso
Happy Ever After collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso

Boontje's first collaboration with Moroso was the 2004 Happy Ever After show in Milan, which featured six chairs draped in a variety or ornate textiles.

Happy Ever After collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso
Happy Ever After collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso

"The underlying concept was a very strong interest I'd developed in the idea of decoration and ornamentation," Boontje explains. "We created six chairs, which were like characters in fairytale stories. All these characters inhabit this fantasy world."

Bon Bon tables by Tord Boontje for Moroso
Bon Bon tables by Tord Boontje for Moroso

Decoration plays an important roll in many of Boontje's products for Moroso, including his Bon Bon tables from the same period, as well as more recent products such as the 2009 Shadowy collection of outdoor furniture.

Shadowy armchairs by Tord Boontje for Moroso
Shadowy armchairs by Tord Boontje for Moroso

"We worked on garden furniture with people in Dakar, Senegal where they had a tradition of weaving with yarns onto metal frames," he explains. "From that came the Shadowy armchair."

Shadowy armchair by Tord Boontje for Moroso
Shadowy armchair by Tord Boontje for Moroso

Boontje says his work for Moroso is very much a "collaboration."

"For me the work with Moroso is highly creative," he says. "It allows me to progress my thoughts, my feelings, my own interests. But also, [creative director] Patrizia Moroso is such an amazing person to work with that I also learn an incredible amount from her."

22nd Floor collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso
22nd Floor collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso

Boontje's latest products for Moroso are the much more minimal 22nd Floor modular sofa system and coffee table.

"More recently I've become very interested in slightly stepping away from ornamentation and looking again at modernism," he says. "From that came the 22nd Floor sofa and the table."

22nd Floor collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso
22nd Floor collection by Tord Boontje for Moroso

However, he has paired the modernist style of the sofas with decorative cushions.



"The cushions have a pattern made of passionfruit flowers and brambles," he says. "That's come back in to work alongside this modernism."

Decorative cushions by Tord Boontje for Moroso
Decorative cushions by Tord Boontje for Moroso

This movie was filmed at the Moroso Loves London exhibition at Moroso's London showroom on Rosebery Avenue.

We'll be publishing more video interviews with designers featured in the exhibition over the coming days.

Watch all the movies »

Tord Boontje
Tord Boontje. Copyright: Dezeen