A Sustainable New Furniture Collection That’s Inspired by Margiela and the French New Wave
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Fashion and furniture designer Sam Klemick’s new line, Collection Two, began with a film recommendation from a friend. “They put me onto this French New Wave film called Last Year at Marienbad,” she tells ELLE DECOR. “There’s this really beautiful scene where they look out on a huge, serene topiary garden.” These elegant silhouettes served as inspiration for Klemick’s latest furnishings, namely for their bulbous, geometric frames rendered in solid wood.
Collection Two includes a side table, a stool, a bench, and two chair designs. Their most distinct feature, in addition to their rotund wooden frames, is the cushy, oversized upholstery. Klemick cites Maison Margiela’s iconic 1999 duvet jackets as another inspiration, a muse that gives each piece a lilting, dreamlike quality. The fashion reference is no coincidence, either—Klemick’s résumé includes design roles at Guess, Free People, Rag & Bone, and now Paige.
Despite all of the fashion world’s inherent glamour, the topic of waste and sustainability remains a persistent one; eco-consciousness, then, is integral to Klemick’s furniture. “In my mind there’s no reason for me to do this unless I’m using recycled materials,” she says. “There’s just so much that’s already created and that’s just going to be thrown away.” As a result, all of the pieces in Collection Two are made with wood salvaged from construction sites, as well as deadstock fabrics.
Textile design was yet another source of creative ideas. Klemick researched Amish quilting techniques, as well as the colorful work of legendary designer Gere Kavanaugh. M.C. Escher was also a reference point, all of which informed the pinwheel motifs and color-blocked accents in the final products. “It’s definitely evolved a bit,” says Klemick of how the new collection relates to her previous work. “I paid more attention to textiles and to creating a more unique visual language.”
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