Formafantasma and Rubelli relaunch experimental textile brand Kieffer

Rubelli has been at the forefront of Italy's textile landscape with a 130-year history and a contemporary outlook that is both respectful of its past and craft and committed to looking at the future of woven fabrics. The company has now enlisted Milan design studio Formafantasma to oversee its art direction, with designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin entrusted with both the development of its collections as well as communication strategies, showrooms, collaborations and more. 

‘We were looking for youthful energy to shake the company, to spark new flames. We quickly realised that Formafantasma was the right fit because of their unique contemporary outlook,’ says Nicolò Favaretto Rubelli, Rubelli’s CEO.

Kieffer relaunch by Formafantasma and Rubelli

‘The initial challenge undertaken by Formafantasma was the reimagining of Kieffer, the group’s most experimental brand,’ say the designers. ‘This reinterpretation placed a specific focus on raw materials and weaving techniques.’

Acquired by the Rubelli group in 2001, Kieffer is an experimental textile atelier embodying Rubelli's values of adding a contemporary and future outlook on textile heritage. Produced at Rubelli's Como-based looms, Kieffer's textiles are based on combinations of natural materials explored through patterns and textures. 

‘With Kieffer, it’s more about what you can do with a loom, what you can do technically and how you can structure a textile,’ say the designers, who based their first project on the sensorial effects of the materials when placed in domestic environments.

The collection debuting Kieffer’s new era comprises hemp, wool and paper, natural materials that create a contrast with Rubelli’s opulent compositions of shimmering silks and decorative patterns and strengthen Kieffer’s mission as an experimental textile laboratory.  

Dubbed ‘Untitled’, the campaign presenting the range is inspired by the art world and conveys the materials’ purity through images that place the fabrics in abstract compositions in a neutral space. ‘The wrapping draws from a rich contemporary art history, referring to artists ranging from Man Ray to Christo to Manzoni,’ say the designers. ‘The wrapping served its authors to juxtapose internal and external, visible and invisible, to evoke mystery, challenge perceptions, blur the line between common and extraordinary.’

The studio’s contribution to the brand is based on the sustainable approach Formafantasma has made its mission from the beginning of its practice. Going hand in hand with a carefully considered aesthetic treatment, their attitude towards sustainability focuses on the creation of a company culture that serves as a framework to elaborate on their values. 

‘Kieffer sees textile as the preferred interface for the tactile exploration of the domestic environment: fabrics serve life to veil and highlight, to shelter and comfort, and ultimately to always celebrate the senses,’ reads part of the new company manifesto penned by the studio. ‘Kieffer weaves together the archetypical and the simple with the bold and the adventurous, as long as it serves and honours daily life.’

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