Product quality, contemporary design and international designers: in 2019 Zilio A&C focuses on innovation and presents two new seats, Kinoko and Hug, and the new coat rack Sledge, to furnish any kind of space with elegance and uniqueness.
Kinoko armchair, designed by Mentsen for both commercial lounges and home use, is characterized by the contrasting visual expressions: a bold architectural structure, and the soft curves of the plump upholstery.
A solid, timber plane at the armrest level defines the boxy outline, with two wide solid ash slubs: this strong expression is delicately softened by small semi-circular cutouts where the two lines of wide armrests, which provide useful surfaces to occasionally rest books or a hot drink, meet the line of back support; these details allow eyes to follow shapes without a feel of constraint, just as typeface designers use the device of an ink trap to keep font designs crisp when use in small point sizes.
In contrast, the upholstered seat and back draw organic lines to complement the hard elements of the chair and soft forms highlight the difference in materiality between the seat and its frame.
The chair, available in two versions (with a metal or solid ash base) is named for its armrests which resembles the shape of the Japanese katakana character “コ” (pronounced ko): this gives the chair its name Ki-no-Ko, simply meaning “letter Ko in wood”, and also the word “mushroom” in Japanese.
On the other hand, the Hug chair is designed by TA Design Studio and its name stands for Humane, Universal and Genuine, but also, simply the feeling of receiving a warm hug.
Investigating the potential of wood as a chair-making material led the designers to a new creation that fuses the aesthetics of two classic archetypes: the Chinese Ming-style circle chair and the Thonet Vienna N.811 armchair, that are the base for the Hug chair’s sophistication and its proportion, materiality and construction, expressed by the combination of the upholstered seat with solid ash wood structure, available in various finishes and colours.
Finally, Sledge, designed by Peter Otto Vosding, is a wall-mounted coat hook with striking simplicity and a clean, graphical language: the curved body of Sledge is made with steam-bent ash, with the tip gently peeling away from the wall to offer place to hang your belonging; in addition, two additional small nylon hooks are inset in the wooden surface offering more storage for smaller items such as keys.
Thanks to Zilio A&C, functionality and style become the real protagonists of the space.
