After unveiling his Globe Trotter collection with Roche Bobois in Milan during Salone del Mobile, designer Marcel Wanders touched down in New York earlier this month to discuss the collaboration in a panel discussion with creative director Nicolas Roche and Interior Design editor in chief Cindy Allen.
As Gilles Bonan, Roche Bobois CEO, said at the launch, “Roche Bobois has always surrounded itself with great creative talent to design furniture which has soul, something extra beyond its function. By uniting the expertise of an international editor with the creativity of one of the most recognized designers of the moment, the Marcel Wanders collection for Roche Bobois embodies the poetic, audacious and dreamlike fantasy, and is entirely in line with this approach.”
Of the collection’s inspiration, Wanders explains, “This collection is a tribute to the adventurer we all dreamed of being. A journey is a transformative experience, and we wanted each piece to capture the feeling of bringing home worldly treasures from faraway places.”
“The heart of the collection is a large illustrated fresco, which alludes to a magnificent voyage to a wonderland, embellished with the novel characters of our childhood,” explain the partners. “This assorted and multicolored pattern adorns most of the models throughout the collection.”
The Globe Trotter collection draws inspiration from explorers, collectors and adventurers of all stripes, but central to its influences are the Montgolfier brothers, inventors of the hot-air balloon. In fact, the Montgolfière sofa and Up lighting collection are designed to embrace the silhouette of the balloons. Other objects include the Mariposa lamp, Dojo bookcase, La Parisienne tables, Opérette chair, and more, in addition to the collection’s own selection of fabric Wanders-designed options.
