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Atelier des Refusés. Circular thinking for decorative pillows
By : Carolina Nisivoccia Architetto
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 15th edition
Discipline : Communication & Branding : Grand Winner
Categories : Brand Design / Brand Identity Creation and Update : Gold Certification, Platinum Winner
One Year of Atelier des Refusés.
Atelier des Refusés springs out of an idea by Carolina Nisivoccia – also art director of the project – during the silent months of the pandemic lockdown when she started off this new creative adventure which focuses on the words such as circular economy, lightness, uniqueness, and softness, as a positive reaction to different needs. “Everyone was trying to make their homes more comfortable during a long period of home life. For many, comfort meant creating serene and orderly spaces that made their home feel like a refuge from the harsh realities of life in 2020”
“Softest and Plushest” seemed to be among the most sought after features in home shopping. The pillow, soft and welcoming, is also that element capable of setting an accent, changing the impact of a room, with little effort. For small changes that are enough to have a high impact on how we face our daily life.
Carolina says "I felt more than ever the need to imagine a new, colourful, light, playful project, and why not, gentle to the planet”.
The Origin of the Name.
Atelier des Refusés is inspired by the famous Salon des Refusés. A collection of works rejected by the official Salon held in Paris in 1863. Created to host the works of refused authors, it actually contained true masterpieces, from Manet to Monet, Pissarro and many others who shortly afterwards became universally appreciated and valued ever since then.
The brand AdR was founded on the idea to use beautiful fabrics excluded from the manufacturing cycle, in order to rescue and re-use high quality scraps from the best home textile companies: leftovers, small and unusable scraps but also precious end-of-series items that would otherwise be thrown away and that AdR recomposes to create unique decorative pillows.
A circular economy project that recovers and gives new life to leftovers and a new meaning to “waste”.
All cushions are one-of-a-kind designed by the art director and hand-made in Milano.
Engaging Home Textiles Brands.
Atelier des Refusès started to create a network with some of the best international brands in interiors fabric manufacturing that made available samples, collections, and discarded cuts. These are high quality, first class fabrics that cannot be used in other ways. Atelier des Refusés helps companies in their sustainable approach.
Process.
Atelier des Refusés mixes fabrics and textures to create big, small and very small decorative pillows while respecting the different types of materials. The outcomes are unique cushions, each one different from the other in colour, shape and texture. To reach the goal of “zero waste” they use the minimum number of cuts, therefore some cushions have unusual sizes.
Uniqueness and Harmonic Biodiversity.
AdR loves uniqueness. Each cushion is a unique item created mixing and according different textiles. Each piece is conceived to be beautiful on its own. It goes without saying that ‘the more the merrier’, a soft and varied family of colours and energy, expressing what their creator loves to refer to as ‘harmonic biodiversity.’
Biodiversity
For us means preserving identity, loving the differences, creating combinations in which each peace is on its own but as a whole acquires strengths and harmony – just as happens in nature.
AdR promotes biodiversity as a value that goes over the product: biodiversity is at risk and we humans are the cause. AdR wishes to remember that everyone, in his own small way, can do something.
Collaboration
