Alias @ Salone del Mobile 2018

Lightness and technological innovation run through the design story of Alias, which now addresses new research challenges with its upholstered products, seating systems and interior design accessories. At the Salone del Mobile 2018.

An austere setting with evident architectural references provides the backdrop to the Alias Gallery, the exposition concept through which Alias recounts its vision of contemporary living at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, from 17 to 22 April. Faithfully interpreting the brand identity, the installation reveals the research experience and experimentation which have led the company to develop its innovative, technological and apparently weightless collections. Elegant, austere and waiting to be experienced firsthand, the location (hall 20 – stand C21/D18) consists in a large open plan space in which the latest additions to the collection are displayed in their uniqueness, to create a sequence of living zones. The firm of Alexandra Vandersande has curated the project, preferring not to define a real domestic interior, but to enhance the narration by means of a rigorous selection of elements.  Colour contributes to the conceptual abstraction of this environment and an evocative sequence of finishes enhances the design of the various collections: the neutral shades of the structural elements are teamed up with a refined selection of  Kvadrat® fabrics and Pelle Frau® Color System SC leathers.Everything is enveloped in a lightweight architectural structure, characterized by an alternate use of materials which effectively enhances the brand’s technological vocation. Inside, the living compositions rotate around the new and ambitious exploration undertaken by Alias, that of upholstered elements and seating systems. Consequently, the exposition focus is concentrated on aluzen, the modular project designed by Palomba+Serafini, which symbolizes a turning point in the company’s design strategy. It is a freestanding modular system offering multiple configurations: a decidedly linear structure enabling the end-user to position cushions and flat rest surfaces according to his personal tastes and requirements. As part of its design research into upholstered furnishing, Alias is also presenting vina, the new sofa by Patrick Norguet: a graphic stroke interpreted in die-cast and extruded aluminium defines an organic shape that embraces a composition of meticulously designed cushions. The linear and formal purity typical of the French designer reappears in the gran kobi essentiele armchair from the iko seating collection, which reveals its extreme versatility and adaptability to any type of context.  Neither could the exposition fail to provide an overview of Alias tables, an ambit in which the company has always been an unquestioned protagonist, successfully presenting collections which, thanks to technological research, manage to defy the laws of physics. The frame table by Alberto Meda makes a comeback with a new top in white Carrara marble, flanked by new coffee table variants, comprising the flow bowl by Nendo and the tavolo zero by RonGilad, also interpreted in the mobile zero version. To complete the offering of furnishing elements, there is a newly launched elegant wood version of the sec project designed by Alfredo Häberli: sec woodAlias Gallery offers an authentic design experience in the form of a journey through the many cultural and stylistic revolutions actuated by Alias. With a view to valorising these contents, the company has championed the return of some great names of design. Michele De Lucchi redesigns the layout storage element to turn it into a sideboard; Paolo Rizzato draws inspiration from the world of saddle making to reinterpret the young lady armchair in hide leather: hence the new lady. Similarly, there is a new edition of the manzù table, designed in the seventies by Pio Manzù for the Agnelli family residence. In an interwoven structure of hyperbolas and ellipses, the project draws attention to the centre of the top, where the dish warmer used to be placed.  Today, it is being newly presented in the version with a rotating centre and there is yet another in the pipeline for recharging devices.   The back office area, partitioned off from the exposition space, welcomes guests in an atmosphere of simple elegance conferred by the eleven high back sofas designed by PearsonLloyd, atlas one-leg tables by Jasper Morrison and kobi stools by Patrick Norguet. The backdrop is provided by a shelf system used to showcase the bestselling products of the Alias collection. To mark this edition of the Salone del Mobile, Alias is also making its first foray into the world of décor accessories. For the first time in almost forty years’ activity, the brand has chosen to go into production with projects that not only come to terms with ergonomics but also probe the sensorial and aesthetic ambits. With the collaboration of Mario Trimarchi, Alias is launching its first collection of furnishing accessories, by transforming this designer’s extremely decorative stylistic research into industrial products.This extraordinary collection, together with works by Manzù, also animate the Alias store display of corso Monforte during the Milanese Design Week.  Here, in an intimate and relaxed atmosphere, the company wishes to share the dynamics of its operative team whose members take turns to illustrate what goes on behind the scenes of a design project, by evidencing the elements defining its evolution, from the preliminary sketches to the finished product