Tord Boontje

People | Jan Henderson and Penny Craswell

13 Jan 2012

Often referencing nature in his work, Tord Boontje talks about how sewing and embroidery inspired his chair, stool and light for Moroso – Stitched.

Tord Boontje with his chandelier designed for Swarovski, Blossom.

The Stitched chair would not be out of place
sitting out the front of a gingerbread house.

After first gaining fame for his Garland light, a long, tangled branch of etched metal flowers hung simply over a bare bulb, Tord Boontje has continued to create works that reference nature. Having studied design at Eindhoven in the Netherlands and then at the Royal College of Art in London, Boontje settled in London before the lure of nature set in and he moved to the mountains in France near Lyons with his wife and new baby. While he has since moved back to London and is now teaching at the Royal College of Art, he has kept the house in France and continues to visit, using it as inspiration. “Nature is always something I’m drawn back to; it’s a big theme in my work,” he says. “Did you know that most people have a vitamin D deficiency from not going outside enough?”

At this year’s Milan Furniture Fair, he launched Stitched with Moroso, a series that combines simple chairs, stools and lights with embroidery. “When I was growing up, my mother would do a lot of sewing, making clothes. It was a sudden realization that you can also sew with art materials by stitching them together. Because it’s so low tech, the process of doing this is actually very achievable.”