“I design friendly objects,” explains Serena Confalonieri, perfecting an aesthetic that chooses smooth lines, bright colors, and visually striking graphics to create “objects for grown-ups who still want to have fun.” Confalonieri was raised just outside of Milan and was influenced by the Italian city’s own iconic design heritage. With dreams of being both a fashion designer and an architect, she ultimately received her master’s in interior design at Politecnico di Milano, cutting her teeth with architecture firms in Milan, Barcelona, and Berlin before launching her own Milan-based studio in 2012. A year later at Milano Design Week, she debuted her Nobus-produced Flamingo rug—a striking handtutfed piece crafted in the shape of colorful flowers in saturated tones “inspired by Dutch paintings from the 15th century,” she describes.
Made of fused glass in sharp geometric shapes, the Mojo wall amulets pay homage to traditional Creole culture.
Her practice initially focused mostly on graphic design, but soon expanded into textiles—“I was interested in the point between graphics and product,” she says—and now spans surfaces, chairs, and light fixtures, all with her signature feminine touch. Often finding inspiration from ancient cultures and their techniques, Confalonieri aims “to create something new” outside the bounds of expectations, she explains. Take the recent Masai collection, comprising four ceramic vases and mirrors informed by colors and body decorations of warriors from the eponymous African tribes. The Mojo wall amulets, meanwhile, are an homage to black magic, a longstanding tradition in Creole culture used to banish love rivals and weaken strong bonds of love, she says. Their sharp geometric forms, in fact, recall the shape of voodoo dolls. And the ebullient Ula and Baba chairs for My Home Collection showcase her thoughtful and playful personality, contrasting thin steel structures with colorful fabrics, a nod to tribal dresses.
Inspired by tribal dresses, the Baba armchair for My Home Collection contrasts colorful fabrics with a thin steel structure.
Confalonieri has found success mixing simple silhouettes with a classic yet whimsical approach that celebrates craftspeople above all. “I love working with artisans because there’s so much to learn,” she says, most recently partnering with ceramicists in Milan, glassblowers, and mosaic artists and blacksmiths in Venice. Some of these projects could spring up in April when Confalonieri returns to Milano Design Week to unveil new lighting and ceramic lines, as well as “some other surprises,” she says.
