Paola Navone brings her offbeat designs and artisanal craftsmanship while designing collections for Italian furniture manufacturer Baxter
Memphis designer Alessandro Mendini must have sensed something quite unique in Paola Navone to call her up in Milan after reading her thesis. This was how the Italian architect, interior decorator and designer joined the eighties avant-garde group Alchimia, whose irreverent design style is defined by bold geometric forms and colours.
Some of that idiosyncrasy is still present in Navone’s aesthetic, combined with her love of natural materials and craft techniques gleaned from her travels, especially in Asia. In Singapore, this is evident in the interior she designed for Como Dempsey, a multifunctional retail, lifestyle and dining venue.
Navone has also designed collections for Baxter, an Italian furniture manufacturer founded in 1990 by Luigi Bestetti and his nephew Paolo Bestetti. It’s now available in Singapore exclusively at Space Furniture. When the Bestettis chanced upon a tannery using traditional techniques, they created the Alfred sofa using a unique leather considered too thick for making furniture.