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The best way to describe Joann Berman Bespoke Furniture [1] is that it looks like Berman simply replaced the people she usually dresses with pieces of furniture. A beautiful baroque style sofa gets “dressed” in dayglo fabric and a run-of-the-mill 70s lounger gets a reclaimed anaconda facelift. Berman could have simply stopped there but it wouldn’t be like her to do so. So she pushed the envelope a bit further, layering intricate and at times 3-D graphics of men in gasmasks, delicate French toile [2], and of course, Mick Jagger [3] over top.
“I was very inspired by cannibals and the colors they use particularly the Tupi Guarani [4] of Brasil, so I mixed those two metaphors,” Berman told us. The pieces are all a mix of art murals and vintage chair frames, with found and reclaimed fabrics like snakeskin given to Berman by a friend mixed in.
As with her clothing [5], Berman chooses to make everything in her beloved NYC, which is as much a conscious design decision as it is an ethical one. “I work in a very moment by moment fashion and I change things as I go so it’s much more a design mixes art process which is why I like to have everything at my disposal on site,” she explained.
Joann Berman Bespoke Furniture is available at Allan and Suzi [6] in Manhattan and custom orders can also be requested through her website [7].
+ Joann Berman [7]
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