“The home is the absolute center of our lives, and I wanted to create a system that would change it for the better. I am trained as an industrial designer, but just putting out beautiful products was not enough. I wanted to conceive something relevant to how we live today.” This is how Raf Simons talks about Shaker System, the latest result of his collaboration with Kvadrat, which began nine years ago.
This time the designer of fashion and fabrics has not only launched a new chapter with the Danish textile firm, namely that of lifestyle accessories (offered in a special store in the center of Copenhagen), but also created a true custom habitat for storage and organization in an orderly home.
Photo © Philip Messmann
Shaker System consists of a horizontal bar from which functional parts branch out for putting things away, storing them, hanging them or looking in the mirror. There are 26 accessories in all, with 4 color variations – off-white, pink, green and black – ready to adapt to the needs and spaces of the home, in various creative combinations.
For example, in an entrance there are a key holder, a cap, a shoulder bag and a shopping bag. Thinking about the living area, on the other hand, the bar is inhabited by blankets and cushions in soft wool, mirrors, trays, boxes, caddies for objects and magazines. Everything reflects a deep understanding of everyday necessities, stemming from a personal need of Simons, who travels often and always has to get organized from scratch in different homes.
Photo © Elizabeth Heltoft
Photo © Elizabeth Heltoft
The protagonist of the image of Shaker is Vidar 4, an emblematic fabric from the Kvadrat/Raf Simons collection – now expanded in its chromatic range – that covers the entire system. The whole thus takes on a sophisticated, playful image, amplified by the inclusion of other materials like leather, wool or cashmere, always in tune with the four Vidar hues. The result is a visual and tactile materiality, satiny, grainy or rippled. Innovative in technical terms, the Shaker System is produced in keeping with strict standards and skilled craftsmanship, shared values in the partnership between Kvadrat and Raf Simons.
