New design at a stretch...no strings attached......

At this year’s SaloneSatellite show in Milan, Jessica Carnevale, who was exhibited her Stretch collection of seating, made with latex, bungee and rope.

American designer, Jessica Carnevale, studied industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 2003 she was selected for the European Honors Program to live and study in Rome for a year. Alongside her studies in Art History she worked in the design studio of WalzWork Inc. In any spare time she worked in the studio of a traditional upholsterer and woodworker. It was here that she built a collection of upholstered wooden furniture that was shown at the Palazzo Cenci. In May 2004 she graduated with honors from RISD winning the Excellent Student Award. A desk light made from hand-spun metal was shown in RISD’s Juried Senior Invitational Exhibition.

Martha Stewart then recruited her to design products and so Jessica moved to New York. Over the next four years, she designed for West Elm, Anna Sui and Alexandra Champalimaud before becoming head designer for Brocade Home, creating a new brand for Restoration Hardware.In 2007 she opened her studio in Brooklyn, where, in her spare time, she continued to develop furniture in both wood and metal, always exploring new materials and techniques.

For the past two years, Jessica has been working at the Marcel Wanders Studio in Amsterdam. Under his direction, she has designed a limited edition collection of crystal for Baccarat, a Christmas collection for Target, ceramic tiles for Bardelli, a Senseo machine for Philips and varied collections for Moooi. For Salone 2010, she has developed new items for Magis, Skitsch, XO and Cappellini. Altogether, over 100 items are currently in production.

Jessica’s approach to design is driven by the material – wherever she seeks inspiration, be it fashion or industry, she tries to combine materials in new and beautiful ways.Jessica is relocating to London in May 2010 to open a studio, where she will continue to produce unique furniture and products.

Reminds me of those string pictures everybody seemed to have in the seventies...not sure I want to be reminded though.

More contemporary furniture and design at http://www.kevinhallsworth.co.uk/ the website of Kevin Hallsworth designer and maker of contemporary bespoke furniture and creator of the Industryindesign collection.