Kvadrat/Raf Simons Concept Store launch
KVADRAT/RAF SIMONS LAUNCHES NEW LIFESTYLE ACCESSORIES CONCEPT AND OPENS NEW RETAIL SPACE IN COPENHAGEN
The 9 year long collaboration between Kvadrat and Raf Simons is entering a new chapter: lifestyle accessories. This August Kvadrat/Raf Simons launches The Shaker system: a new concept for the home, resetting how we live and creating beauty from order. A total habitat, it is a salve for a complex contemporary life. A storage system and a range of accessories honouring utility, function and rethinking materiality, and by reflecting those values bringing meaning and artistry to the home. At the same time, Kvadrat is opening its first concept store to present the new product line.
The Kvadrat/Raf Simons concept store focusses on the spirit of simplicity and functionality as well as the connection to the aesthetics of the Shaker culture from which Simons drew inspiration. The immersive retail space has a raw authentic aesthetic with an exposed wooden rafters. It is set up as a series of vignettes to show the dynamic universe of the system. As part of this scenography the accessories, which range from textile bags, caps and slippers, soft woollen throws and cushions, to leather-clad mirror trays and boxes, tote bags and keychains, are shown alongside furniture by the renowned Swedish designer Axel Einar Hjorth.
The rustic 1930s furniture sourced from Jacksons, a Stockholm-based vintage furniture retailer, is also used in the brand campaign, shot in an atmospheric barn on the Swedish island of Gotland. Blurring the line between the physical and the digital the campaign film Gotlandia bends reality by creating a fictional island where viewers can experience the system and accessories up close with animated natural inhabitants, a woodpecker and a spider, as their guides.
The Kvadrat/Raf Simons Shaker collection comprises 26 items available in four signature colours that will initially be launched as collection one and two. The first collection is released on August 9, 2022 and the second at the beginning of 2023. In addition to the retail space in Copenhagen, the first collection will be launched with in-store installations at exclusive retailers, including Matches, Browns and Dover Street Market in London, Ssense Montréal in Montreal, 10 Corso Como in Milan and Andreas Murkudis in Berlin.
For the complete overview and dealer information, please check
shaker.kvadratrafsimons.com.
Kvadrat/Raf Simons
Møntergade 3D
1116 Copenhagen K
Denmark
About Kvadrat/Raf Simons
The Kvadrat /Raf Simons collection brings the acclaimed designer’s exceptional sense of style to the home. Distinguished by the innovative blending of colour and materials for which he is known in the fashion world, Raf Simons’ collection of textiles and accessories for the home is by turns sophisticated and playful, and produced to the exacting standards associated with Kvadrat. Conceived as a suite of diverse yet complementary tones, weaves and textures, the textiles and accessories are suitable for use in a wide variety of interiors, and work beautifully together in a multitude of inventive combinations.
The collaboration between Kvadrat and Raf Simons is built on a mutual appreciation for fine craftsmanship. The collection is based on materials that both reflect Kvadrat’s commitmentto quality, and Raf Simons’ refined elegance.
The first Kvadrat/Raf Simons collection received its debut public airing unannounced inJanuary 2014, in an appropriately fashionable setting. Textiles from the collection were used in Raf Simons’ highly acclaimed menswear collection in collaboration with artist Sterling Ruby. Since then, the Kvadrat/Raf Simons upholstery designs have graced the runways on more than one occasion.
About Raf Simons
Born in Belgium in 1968, Simons studied industrial design in Genk. Inspired by the work of designers such as Martin Margiela, he moved to Antwerp, where the head of the Fashion Department at the city’s Royal Academy encouraged him to start his own label without further study. Launched in 1995, Raf Simons menswear—informed both by classic tailoring and youth culture—had a huge impact on the style of the decade.
In 2005 Simons became artistic director of the Jil Sander label, which under his tenure became known for its vital, sophisticated modernism. In 2012 he was named creative director of Dior Women, a position that he held until late in 2015. During his time as Chief Creative Officer of American fashion label Calvin Klein from 2016 to 2018, he has been awarded Designer of the Year 2017 for both his Menswear and Womenswear collections and for his Womenswear collection in 2018.
In April 2020 Simons joined the Prada brand as Co-creative Director, working in partnership with Miuccia Prada.
A passionate collector of contemporary art and modern design, Simons’ aesthetic is often informed by his admiration for art and he regularly engages in interdisciplinary collaborations.
About Kvadrat
Kvadrat was established in Denmark in 1968 and has deep roots in Scandinavia’s world-famous design tradition. A leader in design innovation, Kvadrat produces quality contemporary textiles and textile-related products for architects, designers and private consumers across the world.
Our products reflect our commitment to colour, quality, simplicity and innovation. We consistently push the aesthetic, technological and functional properties of textiles. In doing so, we collaborate with leading designers, architects and artists, including Miriam Bäckström, Raf Simons, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson,Alfredo Häberli, Akira Minagawa, Peter Saville, Roman Signer, Doshi Levien and Patricia Urquiola.
kvadratrafsimons.com
Contact
For images and further questions, please contact:
Trendgruppen PR
helena.walfridsson@trendgruppen.se
tel. + 46 73 663 76 12