A Wade and Leta Riff on a Bauhaus Classic

One of our favorite things created in the post-modern era was not something original but a remix to a pre-established design, and that design was the Wassily chair by Marcel Breuer, and that designer was Alessandro Mendini. His approach to the Wassily and several other key industrial design pieces created a whimsical touch to something previously considered as somber and subdued. We couldn’t get this piece out of our heads, and felt inspired to follow suit and create our own stylistic “riff” In hopes of paying equal tribute to the stoic demeanour of the Wassily, but also to acknowledge and highlight the brilliance of Mendini’s ability to find new ways of interpretation within memorable and timeless objects.
          The appliqués are hand cut from vegan leather and applied with double-sided silicone tape to belting leather. The choice for a black and white palette is quite contradictory in the greater scope of our body of work, but it felt the most fitting for such a classic Bauhaus design in hopes that we could still nod to its timeless presence within a space.
          This particular Wassily chair was sourced in 2011, and it dons the sticker on the underside that reads "manufactured in Gavina, Italy" a sign of an age in which the Wassily was manufactured before the design acquisition by Knoll.

Client: Personal
Year: 2023
Scope: Design