Constance Guisset, named creator of the year at Maison & Objet in 2010, this year was asked to design an installation of Established & Sons’s work in the Bisazza Bagno space. As she mentions below, this arrangement came with its own set of challenges. “The atmosphere, the language, and the products of both companies are very different,” she says. Known for her dreamy objects that combine lightness and movement—notably in her Dancing Chair from 2009 and 2010’s Vertigo lamp—Guisset says this project came about after she met Maurizio Mussati, Established & Sons’s CEO. He had seen the installation she created for Angelin Preljocaj at the Galeries Lafayette Maison and Molteni, and suggested that they work together on the Established & Sons presentation for Maison & Objet.

View of Constance Guisset’s installation at Maison & Objet, 2012.

What was your first thought when you got the brief?
This display was a challenge, as we were showing one brand's furniture in another brand's showroom. The atmosphere, the language, and the products of both companies are very different, and it was important to think of a separation within this unity.

Much of your work involves an element of lightness, and movement—like a mobile.
In Bisazza’s very colorful and visually strong space, I wanted to propose something extremely light that would be present and half-transparent at the same time. The idea was to respect the place and to just add an installation without any strong materials. I proposed to use plain cloth hangers and to reuse the fabric that Established & Sons used at Qubique in Berlin. I am always very much concerned about the ephemeral character of scenographies, and I felt that for a temporary installation, it was important to be as light as possible in terms of material and atmosphere. Lightness is always a concern, and it was really important in this project in particular. The movement is suggested through the fold, the pleats, and way the fabric is hung.

And the clothes hangers?
The cloth hangers suggest the idea of a fashion show runway that would occupy the space for short time. Established and Sons’s collection is being shown in a temporary installation while the Bisazza showroom will remain. Fabric gives this impression of fleetingness, lightness, softness.

Constance Guisset
Established & Sons
Bisazza Bagno