Outdoor furniture is more design than ever, reinventing outdoor living

It was one of the events of the 2022 Milan Furniture Fair. Covering 3,200 square meters and two levels, Minotti’s impressive pavilion showcases the know-how and style of this important Italian house. Each room was a showcase of couches, tables, chairs…instantly lust-inducing. What fascinated the visitor was also this incredible fluidity between the interior and exterior spaces. This perfect villa, surrounded by lush vegetation, seemed to have no boundaries between inside and outside, comfort and aesthetics being the same level of requirements.

Nendo’s iconic Torii Nest armchair, long reserved for the living room, put its curves on the terrace, echoing Rodolfo Dordoni’s rope seats, soft Florida sofas, Quadrado benches, by Marcio Kogan inspired by duckboards or back to armchairs, a footstool , a small table from the Yoko Cord Outdoor series, created by the Japanese-Scandinavian duo Inoda + Sveje, combining comfortable materials and delicate silhouettes. If this installation was an invitation to dream, it was above all proof that from now on the house is depicted beyond its walls, and that the garden, the courtyard, the patio, the balcony… are treated with the same care as the bedroom or the living room.

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New arrivals or iconic pieces

This shift can be seen in all the main players in the house. Cassina thus develops new outdoor products with designers who sign indoor collections such as Philippe Starck and Patricia Urquiola. The house also publishes some of its icons in new versions. This is the case with Mexican furniture designed by Charlotte Perriand; the dining table and bar table feature materials and finishes suitable for outdoor use, or even the Leggera chair by Gio Ponti. The latter required incredible ingenuity to maintain its lightness and silhouette while guaranteeing its resistance to bad weather. The teams went looking for technology in the automotive industry to take on the challenge.

The epidemic was when most people opened their eyes to the importance of nature and the possibility of spending some comfortable time outdoors.

Lucas Fuso

Luca Fuso, the CEO of the brand, is the man who brought about this revolution. “I already caught that interest fifteen years ago. At the time, I was working for a design company specializing in interior furnishings, and I decided to introduce one of the first outdoor collections, he says. When I joined Cassina four years ago, I felt it was important to launch a catalog of outdoor items. We introduced the first outdoor collection at a critical time in early 2020, just before the pandemic hit. But finally, it was the moment when most people opened their eyes to the importance of nature and the possibility of spending comfortable time outdoors.

Molteni, another star in the high-end furniture industry, is launching its first outdoor line this season, designed by its artistic director Vincent Van Duysen. The latter developed in his works the same timelessness, the same concern for quality, the same sensibility as his creations for the interior, but combining techniques and materials that are not afraid of rain and UV rays. The same approach when he adapted the D.150.5 chaise longue and the D.154.2 armchair by Gio Ponti for the garden. Staying as close as possible to their original design, he replaced the solid wood of the former with teak, and used plastic, recycled textiles and metal to make the latter. “All these new proposals are based on Italian excellence, not forgetting in everything I design: organic materials, pleasant to the touch, warm and timeless,” he elaborates. The designer even designed Helios, an outdoor kitchen, confirming that outdoor living is now a lifestyle in itself.

Made by France

French brands are clearly present in this booming market. Cinna has been exploring the outdoors for ten years. “Covid and containment have made the market more mature. In the past, people were not willing to spend a huge budget on their outdoor equipment. This is no longer the case. At the same time, innovations have multiplied, and materials have become stronger, more beautiful, they can be cleaned. Finally, the service is more suited to the premium vision. now that we sell outdoor furniture, we also provide protective covers, explains Bruno Allard, Cinna’s sales and marketing director. To build our proposal, we started with a problem. are we able to achieve the same level of comfort for seats designed for the interior and revised for the exterior? To answer this, we took one of our iconic armchairs, the No Duchaufour-Laurance Ottoman, and reinvented it. We kept the same foams, but isolated them from the ground with a foundation that slightly changes its appearance, and then wrapped it with a waterproofing fabric so that rainwater can flow without seeping into the structure or stagnating.

This is the first step. But the company then set itself a new challenge: not to change anything in the appearance of indoor furniture adapted for outdoor use. “We also discussed a myth there. The Saparella line, created by Michel Ducaroy just before Togo, is continued by Bruno Allard. We reached an incredible level of comfort there.” With these challenges in mind, Cinna has taken a step forward this year by reversing the trend and adapting the Murtoli sofa by Christian Werner, originally designed for the outdoors, to the interior. “Textiles, materials intended for the outdoors, are now so beautiful and effective that we can bring them home without any problem,” concludes the marketing director excitedly.

Innovative textile

Effective, this is a word that often appears in the mouth of Emmanuel Lelièvre, who runs the historic studio for the creation and production of Lelièvre furnishing textiles. “The outdoor fabric that will cover the sofa, armchair, is a durable fabric that will not fade after two seasons or mold. It is also designed to support a beach club with a halo flood of sunscreen, cocktails and salt water. Besides, no one wants to sit on a tarp or some scratch on the roof anymore. That’s where this concept of performance comes from, which includes durability, preservation and a sensual approach,” he explains.

For several years now, Lelièvre has been offering textiles designed for outdoor use, and it is clear that more and more innovations allow it to develop products that are more pleasing to the eye and to the hand. “There has been significant progress in fiber. they are more flexible, similar to inner fabrics. Moreover, today we are talking about “quality inside and out”, Emmanuelle Lelievre always mentions. And the two collections presented this year perfectly reflect this progress. Splash, thanks to a series of threads, has made it possible to develop an unexpected range of colors with an almost mosaic effect. Farniente is a ring, the star material of the interior. The texture work was extremely detailed. Just run your hand over it to realize that this link, which does not contain wool, still has the qualities of softness.

A terrace like a living room

If we continue to open the outdoor textile thread, we will reach the carpet quite naturally. Because yes, now the terrace is also entitled to this accessory. And it’s not just coconut and other fibers that sting the feet. Lelievre clearly has its outdoor rugs, including a spherical one, in mineral colors and geometric shapes that resemble a groove left in the ocean sand. And many other brands offer models as sophisticated for the exterior as for the home. As proof, the new collection designed by Paola Navone for Ethimo called Nodi. Each of the three links features subtle tonal relief patterns, one of which creates camouflage. Another accessory that’s getting a big makeover is outdoor lighting. Technology, design reflection and “nomadism” through battery development. here too we have a fusion of inner and outer worlds. This is confirmed by Sammode director Emmanuel Gagnez, who covers: “Borders are being erased with the availability of hybrid products that go from inside to outside. It is an evolution linked to innovation and aesthetics. But there is clearly a consumer demand that goes in this direction.

It’s true that luxury brands and leading designers have set the tone when it comes to outdoor spaces. But the big brands should not be bypassed, increasingly abandoning the plastic living room to highlight more elegant ranges such as Kave Home, Alinea or Habitat, whose collections reflect a great effort both in terms of design and comfort. What delights all those who have a little corner of paradise, be it a balcony or a garden, and disappoints those who only have a windowsill to develop…