Ozwald Boateng reimagines Poltrona Frau classics

During London Design Festival 2023, Ozwald Boateng and Poltrona Frau unveil ‘Culture and Craft’, a collaboration defined by the Savile Row designer’s interpretations of the Italian furniture company’s classics. 

A glimpse into a wider collaboration that will expand in the future, the pieces are on view at Boateng’s Savile Row showroom as well as Poltrona Frau’s Fulham Road and Harrods location, and include the ‘Chester’ sofa, a 1912 design conceived by the company's founder and inspired by Edwardian Chesterfields, and the ‘Vanity Fair’ chair, from 1984, both adorned with distinctive patterns developed by the designer. 

Although the furniture acts as the centrepiece of the collaboration's debut, Boateng's interpretation of Poltrona Frau stretches far beyond these initial designs, with 'The Beautilities Collection' comprising rugs, wallpaper, cushions, scented candles and a Mancala board game, all reflecting the spirit of the designer's approach to creation.

Ozwald Boateng and Poltrona Frau: evolution from tradition

Boateng has been a Savile Row institution since he opened his shop on the street in 1995, after nearly a decade of learning from the tailors on the street. At 28, he was the youngest designer to ever open a space on the road, and instantly impressed with his interpretation of classic tailoring merged with the aesthetic and cultural codes of his Ghanaian background. Similarly, he now brings his distinctive approach to Poltrona Frau, through a collection that blends both brands’ identities. 

'At Poltrona Frau, we wanted to make tradition alive in a contemporary key,' says Poltrona Frau CEO, Nicola Coropulis. 'The meeting with Ozwald was a catalyst, because he had done exactly this same exercise on traditional English formal dress, innovating it with the colours and designs of the African tradition.' 

Boateng has always been known for his use of colour and his approach to fabrication. With Poltrona Frau, there was an instant connection through craft, construction and attention to detail. ‘When I visited them in Tolentino, the thing which was abundantly clear about them was the execution, the attention to detail and the craftsmanship,’ says the designer

Boateng enriched the classic furniture designs by embossing his signature ‘Tribal’ print in Frau leather. A pattern referencing traditional Kente Cloth Motifs, it becomes both a subtle decoration and a powerful aesthetic exercise once placed on the designs. 

The collection merges Poltrona Frau’s longstanding expertise with handcrafting techniques and furniture construction with Boateng’s distinctive aesthetic and spirit. Subtle yet vivid in its execution, the pattern is declined in a vibrant series of shades that reflect the designer’s work, including red, yellow, purple, blue, green and black.

Although effortless in its appearance, the embossed elements were a key step forward for Poltrona Frau's manufacturing approach. 'Applying Oswald's patterns on the leather was an important technological challenge,' says Coropulis. 'In the furniture sector today, no one uses the embossing technique that we have used, he has pushed us to work on the leather in a new way.'

As a Savile Row tailor, Boateng has had extensive experience with modernising the classics. ‘I learned very early on as a designer that to take something that's very traditional, and modernise it, it’s actually quite difficult, there’s a subtlety to getting the balance of the two worlds right.’

From the start, Boateng found similarities between his approach to tailoring and construction and Poltrona Frau’s techniques. Rooted in precision, craft and innovation, the two brands found common ground and also challenged each other. ‘The process of making the furniture is very similar to my approach to tailoring, including the choice and development of materials,’ explains Boateng. ‘For me this partnership is really about tradition, and finding a new language around that tradition, the same way I did in Savile Row.'

'We both have great respect for the past, for what we define as "the intelligence of the hands",' adds Coropulis. 'We know the value of this tradition and we have practised it over the years, so we are in a position to be able to offer a credible interpretation of tradition.'

‘“Chester” is a very traditional piece of furniture, so for me, being able to take that, and interprete it through a new language around the existing frame that everyone knows, that's really what design is about,' concludes Boateng. 'Because if tradition doesn't evolve, it dies.’

The collection is on view at Poltrona Frau, 147-153 Fulham Road, Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Rd, and Ozwald Boateng, 39 Savile Row

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