This year in Milan, you're launching three distinct collections through three different collaborations. Could you summarize each partnership in just one sentence?

 

I have two collections launching at Alcova—Betsy in collaboration with Uniqka and Anima in collaboration with Maison Phelippeau. We also have a third collection, Fallen Empire, which will be displayed at Serafini Gallery in downtown Milan.

 

Betsy is a collection of leather furniture inspired by the beauty of birds, with layered panels mimicking feathers, draped over bold, sculptural, and voluminous forms. Using saddlery leather—known for its thick yet supple texture—the incredible artisans at Uniqka cut, treat, and meticulously layer each "feather" piece-by-piece onto wooden frames, topped with a selection of coloured wood surfaces. The Betsy Collection comprises five distinctive pieces: a round coffee table, a side table, a console, a bench, and a standing mirror.

 

In collaboration with Serafini, we have created Fallen Empire, a collection of marble furniture which pays homage to the forgotten fragments of lost civilizations, fusing the grandeur of ancient ruins with contemporary design. The collection comprises four pieces, a coffee table, a side table, a console, and a dining table. 

 

Inspired by dreams of nature, which symbolize a desire for peace and balance, Anima blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination.This collection transforms the historic villa  into a surreal landscape of rolling hills, lakeshores, and organic forms, blurring the boundaries between reality and imagination. At the heart of the collection are three limited edition upholstered seating pieces—the Anima Sofa, Armchair, and Occasional Chair—created in collaboration with Maison Phelippeau, a revered French upholstery house known for its artisanal expertise, and enveloped in pure alpaca wool by Inata, a sustainable Peruvian textile brand. Complementing the seating is a Dark Woods Table, crafted in Portugal from solid mahogany.

 

The common feature of all three collections is that you've worked with a wide range of very different materials—including leather and marble. Typically, designers tend to work with similar materials. As a designer, do you intentionally choose this diversity?

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I’ve always been drawn to exploring a wide range of materials in my designs, as each one offers its own unique influence on both the form and function of a piece. Across all three collections, I’ve focused on natural, organic materials, but each brings a unique quality to the collection — allowing me to explore the balance between softness and hardness, flexibility and rigidity, and how these qualities can enhance the overall design experience.

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I BELIEVE THAT DESIGN SHOULD BRING JOY  

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How would you sum up your design philosophy?

 

My design philosophy revolves around the idea of playfulness. I believe that design should bring joy and personality into people's spaces. Furniture and objects are not just functional items but can become companions within a room, each with its own character. My aim is to create pieces that invite interaction and foster a sense of connection, encouraging people to feel at home and spend time with their surroundings.

 

I’VE ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED BY DREAMS AND SURREALISM  

 

The Anima collection, created in collaboration with Maison Phelippeau, draws inspiration from Jungian psychology. Why Jung—was there a specific reason, and how did it influence the collection?

 

From a young age, I’ve always been fascinated by dreams and surrealism, intrigued by how these elements can be translated into the physical world. When developing the Anima collection in collaboration with Maison Phelippeau, I was inspired by Jungian psychology because of its deep exploration of the unconscious and the human psyche. In today’s age of AI, digital creations lack the tangible beauty and substance of real-world materials; I wanted to create something that evoked those surreal, dreamlike qualities but was grounded in reality. The collection reflects this balance—capturing the essence of those elusive, ethereal ideas while using real, well-crafted materials that feel both beautiful and authentic in the physical world.

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What key features did you focus on regarding the materials and textures in Anima?

 

Developed in collaboration with Maison Phelippeau, a renowned French upholstery house celebrated for its artisanal craftsmanship, each seating piece is meticulously handcrafted in London, ensuring a zero-carbon footprint. The furniture is made entirely from natural materials, including Vanadium steel coils, horsehair, and wool, all wrapped in luxurious alpaca wool from Inata, a sustainable textile brand from Peru.

 

The collection is defined by its soft curves and twin peaks with a central dip, subtly inspired by natural landscapes and evoking the symbolic imagery of lips, imbuing the pieces with a poetic, sculptural elegance. Alongside the seating, the Dark Woods Table, made from solid mahogany in Portugal, features floating, organic surfaces resting on bold, rock-like forms. These surfaces are shaped using a combination of 5D laser cutting and hand chiseling, achieving a striking contrast between refined craftsmanship and the raw essence of the material.