Salone del Mobile
In celebration of Armani Casa’s 25th anniversary, and the 50th anniversary of the Giorgio Armani brand, a project using our hand-embroidered textiles to upholster a selection of Armani Casa furniture aims to amplify the qualities that define each brand as masters of their field – the resulting pieces telling an engaging story of innovated traditions.
Focusing on two bespoke concepts proposed by the Armani Casa team – a tropical scene of foliage, florals and monkeys and a decorative depiction of an oriental dragon – de Gournay have applied the full measure of their artistic skills in the creation of two highly elevated designs.
Inspired by artworks and iconography from China’s dynastic past, the Dragon design likewise employs couture level craftsmanship in the creation of an expressive, contemporary motif, created over the course of 300 hours. Its mouth open in a silent roar, intricately cut beads and bullion wire are hand-embroidered both flat onto the velvet ground and with padding, adding a three-dimensional quality to its face.
The surrounding mane and beard are made from chain-stitch metallic beads and thread in trailing lines to suggest flowing hair, a technique mirrored in its tail which employs the same pairing of padding and flat embroidery to create tactile dimension.
The design makes clever use of negative space to further amplify the energetic subject matter, with its irregular scales combining infilled and outline embroideries in a variety of methods – double beading, a sequin and bead combination, tightly stacked sequins and vertical bead outlines – that create a ‘ripple’ effect across its undulating form. A trio of gold tones are used throughout across all the materials: a subtle mix of antique, medium and original gold according to the visual codas used by the Armani brand itself.
Suspended amidst a jungle canopy, a languid monkey and surrounding leaves, plants and flowers are rendered entirely by hand with a comprehensive array of embroidery techniques, using over 50 individual materials including sequins, metallic bullion, glass beads, silk thread, wool sateen and silk organza. Made over the course of hundreds of hours, with the monkeys themselves taking up to 70 hours each to create, every pictorial element demonstrates myriad embroidery methods that lend the motif vivid depth and texture.
The fan leaf alone employs a couture-level cutting technique in which the bullion threads are precision cut entirely by hand to fit the individually appliquéd shape of every frond, resulting in a masterfully high-dimensional effect. The trailing fruits compose transparent lustre beads in a close, tight embroidery style graduating from a deep green tone to a paler sage colour at the bottom: an intricate ombré effect that mirrors a true cast of light. In a similar fashion, the pointed reed leaves are created from a battered soft wire, hammered flat to create a smooth even surface that highlights the degrade of colours. The beads, sequins and softwire of the blue flowers are brought to life with multiple stitch types, pairing irregular and linear patterns to create a distinct sense of movement.
Focusing on two bespoke concepts proposed by the Armani Casa team – a tropical scene of foliage, florals and monkeys and a decorative depiction of an oriental dragon – de Gournay have applied the full measure of their artistic skills in the creation of two highly elevated designs.