This year, European furniture brand Sé celebrates its tenth anniversary in a special way by unveiling its much-anticipated Collection IV with designer Ini Archibong. Four years after the launch of its highly successful third collection with Nika Zupanc, Milan Design Week will see Sé reveal an entirely new collection, which continues the brand’s founding principles of partnering with like-minded designers to create elegant yet expressive heirloom pieces.

Designed by Ini Archibong, Collection IV, entitled ‘Below the Heavens’, references the threshold between heaven and earth, a place of serenity that Archibong feels encompasses the spirit of Sé; a spirit of sensual beauty, celestial perfection and sensitive fragility. Archibong’s recent work has shown a great interest in both form and materials, using glass, marble and brass to express themes drawn from mythology and spirituality.

Ini Archibong comments, “To me, Sé occupies a special place in the spectrum of luxury furniture. This collaboration feels like a perfect fit and it’s an honour to be invited to create the fourth collection. My aim is to push Sé's fascination for exploring noble and new materials even further, and use them with simple silhouettes and decorative elements to create a memorable collection. Working with Sé, I felt I could work from my heart and soul and the designs flowed freely”

This collection is the largest undertaking of the Californian designer’s career to date, a 22-piece assemblage of sumptuous and sculptural pieces to be released over a period of two years with eleven pieces to be unveiled at Galleria Rossana Orlandi in April. From the ‘Atlas’bench to the ‘Athena’ lamp, each piece has its own character, and together they bring a collective sense of serenity and emotional resonance. The tension between delicacy and strength - an abiding Archibong interest - can be seen in the ‘Daedalus’ table, ‘Icarus’ chair and ‘Heracles’ table, in tensile legs that bolster monumental forms. Some pieces are infused with a hint of playful caricature, such as the exuberant ‘Circe’ chair and sofa, while others have been guided by the mysteries of the sky: the ‘Eos’ and ‘Helios’ lights inspired by the sun, the ‘Moirai’ chandelier and ‘Gaea’ pendant evocative of clouds.

“With Ini, we have found a designer who has an innate grasp of timeless luxury, a passion for investigating materials and production techniques,” says Schtakleff. “Together we will enrich Sé’s offering and make Collection IV an exciting and significant body of work in our 10th anniversary year.”

Sé is also delighted to announce that Collection IV will include pieces designed by Ini Archibong with Studio MTX, a Parisian studio, part of Chanel’s Maisons d’Art, which redefines Haute Couture embroidery by playing with a variety of materials and techniques to develop custom-made surfaces and textures for interior architecture. The Selene Chandelier, incorporating architectural embroidery elements into lighting for the first time will be revealed during Salone alongside bespoke scenography by the French studio.

Following the successful unveiling of new partnerships at last year’s Milan Design Week, Sé continues its relationship with French rug producer, La Manufacture Cogolin, who will add finishing touches to Sé’s presentation by displaying one-of-a-kind pieces in a palette of heavenly hues. 

Spazio Rossana Orlandi
Via Matteo Bandello 16,
20123 Milano

17th-22nd April 2018
9am- 8pm daily

For more information email enquiries@se-collections.com or call +44 (0)207 6274282