Host & Home’s Thai designers are leading the way in sustainability

When Milan Design Week kicks off this month, visitors will discover the latest in innovation when it comes to Thai design.

That’s because the Host & Home showcase is returning to showcase Thai lifestyle products at Salone del Mobile 2022.

Focusing on sustainability, the exhibition will highlight Thai furniture and decorative products from a total of 11 brands that have been chosen for their handmade products, which showcase high standards of production and the finest materials.

Ahead of the event, we’ve taken the chance to get to know a little bit more about the craft and expertise of these exhibitors in a series of mini-interviews, underlining their eco-friendly approach. 

This three-part series, which shines a spotlight on Thailand’s regional crafts closes today with:

• Thai manufacturers Mobella, a furniture manufacturer whose name is synonymous with Modern Thai Lifestyle
• Touchable, whose dedication to circular methods is paramount
• Sculpture, a furniture brand that takes unusual materials and turns them into extraordinary, anything-but-the-usual furniture

Mobella

Tell us about your core product? What defines your brand? 

Mobella Galleria is known for its upholstered furniture, which features creative designs and an exclusive made-to-order service that caters to our customer’s tasteful suite rooms with the customization service and material selection from our premium grade fabric and leather collections. 

How does Thai craftsmanship influence your practice? 

The strength of Thai design is shown through the creative handicraft employed by our master craftsmen.

Mobella introduces the subtle sense of local knowledge and Thai culture in every object we design in order to narrate an authentically Thai story. 

Mobella Galleria promises a sense of modern Thai design with the quality of our finest material and detailed Thai craftsmanship through creative collaborations with designers and trusted crafters, guaranteed with international export and design awards, like Thailand’s DEmark, Japan’s G-mark and our proud achievement of Thailand Trust Mark and Thailand Prime Minister’s Export Award.

Which areas are you focusing on in terms of eco-friendly design and sustainable materials? 

Over 80% of Mobella’s products are made using sustainable materials and renewable resources.

These go into building the wooden frames and crafting new fabrics, like the natural threads we employ and the genuine leather, which is recycled from nature. 

Our products are 100% hand-made, which requires a crucial component—the skilled worker.

The expertise of our artisans spans generations, and near 30 years of experience goes into our delicate manufacturing process.

Touchable

What defines the Touchable brand?

Our slogan is “The Remarkable of the Uniquely Designed”. 

We are a company dedicated to supplying the finest contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories—our vision is to enhance the quality of your living environment by adding design, comfort, elegance and stylish functionality.

How do Thai craftsmanship and design influence your practice? 

Combining contemporary design with craftsmanship is challenging.

To upgrade Thai handicrafts, designers have to go through a hard thought process in order to come up with products that are beautiful and stand out.

Thailand offers some of the most cost-effective material handling solutions because it makes the most of local materials, circular materials and renewable resources, which ultimately influence our practice.

Which areas are you focusing on in terms of eco-friendly design and sustainable materials? 

We focus on the zero waste design concept by making the most of all materials including those leftover from manufacturing large-scale pieces of furniture.

This we assemble into smaller pieces like lamps for example.

Over the years, we have developed a new “eco-friendly” product line, which was the outcome of the guilt that we shouldered wherever there was wastage or by-product that was to be discarded and destroyed. 

This product line not only is popular and very well received in the market, but it has played a major role in giving us a direction, a way forward which we are continuously exploring and nurturing.

Sculpture

What defines your products and brand?

We create furniture made from cotton straps produced with a high-quality durable, washable and no colour fade guarantee.

Our unique offering includes two-tone bands with a soft surface and strength when it comes to structure. Colour is our strong point—we can provide more than 30 colours in a variety of sizes.

Other characteristics of our products include the pure design, functionality, high value for usage and ecological quality.

Which areas are you focusing on in terms of eco-friendly design and sustainable materials?

We make new products from cotton material left over from furniture production to be designed as a new product, reducing waste and adding value to the product.

Tell us about your team and your biggest achievements…

Our team is small, with only 10 people that are experts in their field including craftspeople and designers that have generational expertise when it comes to artisanal skills in Thailand.

As for achievements…we were most proud when we saw our furniture in the 2012 Hunger Games movie, but really, our greatest achievement is our strength in manufacturing and inventing new methods of production or ways to use new materials.

Visitors from around the world will have the opportunity to see the work of Mobella, Touchable and Sculpture when Milan Design Week kicks off this month.

In the meantime, you can discover the other Host & Home exhibitors whose craft is being highlighted as part of the showcase.

Among them are Thai manufacturers Deesawat, Kun Decorate, Kenkoon and Thaniya1988, whose eco-friendly furniture underscores the exhibition’s overall theme of sustainability.

They also include one of Thai’s top ceramics manufacturers, Prempracha, and furniture makers Masaya, Moonler, and Performax, whose mastery of materials includes bamboo, wood and brass.

The Host and Home project is in its eighth year of supporting Thai designers to exhibit their products at international trade shows, also including Maison and Objet in Paris and Korea Build Exhibition in Ilsan, Republic of Korea.

The Host & Home showcase was launched by the Office of Lifestyle Trade Promotion and Thai Trade Centre Milan, Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Ministry of Commerce Thailand with the aim of creating new opportunities for Thai designers and manufacturers.

The showcase will take place during Salone del Mobile 2022 on the corner at Hall 8/B37 during Salone del Mobile from 7-12 June, 2022.