Atelier Pendhapa has launched their new furniture collection, AKAR, in collaboration with Métaphores, an innovator in weaving and fabrics for interior design, and a sister company of Hermès (part of its textile division).
Atelier Pendhapa, the London and Singapore-based architecture and furniture design studio created nine different pieces of collectible furniture, each showcasing a different horsehair Le Crin fabric, the specialty centenarian technique of hand-woven horsehair developed today by Métaphores. Atelier Pendhapa worked closely together with Métaphores to select a range of fabric showcasing the wide variety of techniques used in horsehair. Their teams came together to produce exclusively hand-made pieces of furniture. The weaving of the horsehair was made in Challes, France (the only workshop left in the world) and the carving of solid mahogany and teak woods were created at Atelier Pendhapa’s studio in Indonesia. The design of the solid wood elements challenges gravity, as it undulates around the fabric.
The essence of the collaboration was for Atelier Pendhapa to best showcase the fabric’s unique characteristics. Horsehair is a natural byproduct of local breeding activities existing in certain areas, mainly Asia. Breeding of wild horses is often seen in remote countries where nomad populations use them as a means of transportation or for agriculture purposes. This is typical of Mongolia, a country populated with three million wild horses which produces the vast majority of quality horsehair. The fibers of le crin originally come from Mongolia where the cold climate is a real asset as it conveys resilience to the horsehair which is naturally coarse, strong and lustrous. Although the fabric has been extensively used for centuries in France, Metaphores reinvented the patterns and weavings of horsehair with a contemporary design. Combined with linen, wool, sisal or metallic threads, horsehair allows for the creation of motifs, light effects and sometimes audacious nuances.
