Paris 2012: chair brand Emeco presented a new collection of seating by French designer Christophe Pillet at Maison & Objet in Paris this week.
Called Sezz, the series of five chairs were originally created for a hotel in St.Tropez.
They feature handmade recycled aluminium shells with or without upholstery pads.
Emeco are the company behing the iconic all-aluminium Navy Chair first designed in 1944 for the US Navy, which they relaunched in a plastic version made from recycled cola bottles in 2010.
Read more about Paris 2012 in our special category.
Here are some more details from Emeco
The Sezz Collection
Emeco is pleased to present a collection of designed aluminum chairs, stools and swivel chairs entitled Sezz by French designer Christophe Pillet. Known for works that meditate on notions of time as well as the esthetic and illustrative memory, Pillet brings these themes together in five pieces: A series of timeless, handmade recycled aluminum chairs and stools manufactured at the Emeco factory in Pennsylvania US.
“The Sezz chair is a little story about Emeco and what Emeco has become, the capacity of the best of the best. It is a specific story, an interpretation of the Emeco way,“ says Pillet. “ When I sit in a Sezz chair it makes me feel happy. Christophe combined our craftsmanship, material, and unique process to create a new modern icon,” said Gregg Buchbinder, CEO at Emeco.
Pillet’s collaboration with Emeco commenced specially for the Sezz Hotel in St.Tropez where he envisioned interiors with a sense of deap value; the connotation of a home away from home. By blending furniture like a vacation house, Pillet creates an intimate and homely feeling. “ When I was a young kid, I grew up in a home full of Eames furniture. At that time they looked modern and unique and they still do today. Christophe has captured that same poetry. Sezz will be forever young,”said Buchbinder.
The city of St.Tropez is an international hot spot for summer fest but parallel to the glamour is a classic French village. “All hotels in the area are the same – fashion hotels. I wanted the opposite.The precious thing for me is the quality of the sun in southern France. I wanted the hotel to feel like the smell of the skin when you are on the beach. It is all about taking advantage of nature, the shadows, the trees, the sun – truly creating a down tempo. It is more like building a scenography or blending a perfume using the ingredients and flavors of past memories,” said Pillet.
The Collection is a charming fusion of comfort and durability, a sense of embracement; raw industrial strength yet with the sensual sophistication of a French lounge seat. “The look is very subtle, but holds an unbelievable quality; you don’t see the welding, the recycled aluminum, the indestructibleness, they are all real but invisible values, the hidden territory of
a luxury product,”said Pillet.
Sezz emphasize Christopher Pillet’s ongoing interest of the emotional connection to objects. “The chair is not made to look a certain way, but to make you instantly want to climb up in it and have a nap. The idea is to be timeless and create desires, using the objects in its purest form. When you collect, you choose items you would like to keep for a long time and not throw away, even when these items are not in fashion, you still love them,”said Pillet. “In 100 years from now, Sezz will be the kind of chair you will find in a flea market or perhaps a museum. Both require products that last,”said Buchbinder.
“Today we buy items because we desire the memories attached. I sometimes see my job as a designer just like the writers, artists or movie makers – it is about storytelling. You buy furniture because they are representing your sentimental values, like keeping old photographs. Its all moments in your life. Same when you are choosing furniture, its building your story,”said Pillet.
Emeco with Christophe Pillet
First installed at the The Sezz Hotel St. Tropez, France
