It had been five minutes and still I could hardly breathe. The Alps were right there, outside the airplane’s windows and they were spectacular. When I finally resumed breathing—the turbulence also played a role in my bated breath—it occurred to me that here we were, three Americans setting siege upon Italy in hopes of staking some claim in the Mecca of Design. And like Hannibal, the African General, before us who crossed these same mountains, we hoped our journey would prove fruitful.
The pace of Milan is Southern, to say the least. People move fastest when they’re trying to make it to the head of the queue to place an order for lunch or espresso. Ladies walk their dogs—often times neglecting to scoop the poop—at a leisurely pace, even the wind seems to turn corners with care. It was Milan for certain, but it felt like home, after being gone for a while.
Upon arriving we dropped our luggage at our hotel in the Navigli District, a quaint little area with a hip/underground vibe, and with no time to rest, descended into the Milan metro. Everything shined with an awe-striking glow; reality hadn’t quite set in: We were really on our way to stake our claim as bona-fide Designers, at the Salone Satelllite. (more…)
Bradley Bowers
It seemed like the millionth time that something decided to go awry with one of our pieces. This time it was the fiberglass laminate—it was delaminating. The previous layers had gone onto the mold of our fiberglass lounge, which we had named Shell, without a single hiccup, and we had assumed that the final layers would go on just as smoothly. But being new to the vacuum-form laminating process, we weren’t entirely sure what was wrong. Was there a leak in the bag? Did we apply enough resin to the sheets of glass?
We really needed the process to work, because we had only two more weeks before our entire collection of furniture and accessories would be crated and shipped to Italy. Shell, so named because of the way the piece cradles its occupant, would be the piece de resistance for our debut at Milan’s Salone Satellite, the premier contemporary design forum for young talent.
The Salone was only four weeks away. After six straight weeks of 20-hour days, the journey was beginning to take its toll. It was all because of Alejandro . This all started because of him.
Alejandro Figueredo
