Carl Fredrik Svenstedt referring to his Infinity Bench.

Overcoming stormy weather, lerival’s launch party at Tribeca Issey Miyake on October 15th successfully brought together designers, architects and furniture fans alike to sip sake, swap stories and speak spontaneously over lerival’s debut furniture collection and its place within America’s contentious contemporary furniture landscape.

On display were Moorhead & Moorhead’s Felt Stools and Modular Screen, the latter of which straddled the store while complementing Issey Miyake’s existing Frank Gehry-inspired sculpture; Carl Fredrik Svenstedt’s Infinity Bench suspended-in-motion in the window; Incorporated Architecture and Design’s range of Hex Tables, Chair and Ottoman; nARCHITECTS’ commanding Plate Shelf; and a preview of things to come with Della Valle Bernheimer’s JACK table legs.

Moderated by Laetitia Wolff of futureflair, the event culminated in a lively discussion between featured architects: Granger and Robert from Moorhead & Moorhead, Adam Rolston from Incorporated A+D and Carl Fredrik Svenstedt of his titular Paris-based firm together with valuable interjections from audience members, namely the enigmatic Giuseppe Lignano from LOT-EK. Up for discussion was the subject of mutual inspiration between furniture design and architecture and the differences between varying attitudes to furniture design on both sides of the Atlantic. Unlike their European cousins, our architects argued, the role of today’s successful US-based designer has, out of necessity, expanded beyond that of pure designer to include that of the modern businessman: aspiring Patricia Urquiola’s needing to form a company in order to successfully move into production. Admitting that designers rarely want, or can, go down that route, our participants concluded that a company such as lerival offers a much-needed alternative – a business modeled on designers remaining designers and that structures and cultivates the best manufacturing model for each piece. By redefining mass-production to still involve hands-on fine-tuning (Felt Stool) or breathing new life into a design that would have otherwise remained in the studio (Infinity Bench), lerival is building a new process, and a unique and holistic approach to furniture manufacturing in the US.

Front of Store

Conversation in Full Flow

Testing out the Infinity Bench

The Infinity Bench in Flight

Fabulous in the Foreground

Panoramic

Moorhead & Moorhead's Felt Stools Relaxing in the Corner

Incorporated's Hex Tables

Neither the weather nor the tiny drinks kept the cool kids away...