B&B Italia Outdoor Crinoline

By Patricia Urquiola

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Can you picture the dresses that women wore in the 1800s? Full, bell-shaped skirts held by crinolines (rigid underskirt garments) were spectacular “micro-architectures” commonly seen in living rooms everywhere.

All of the chairs in the Crinoline collection are designed to reflect this elegant look: the wide curve of the base is repeated in the seat and the curve of the backrest.

“The curved part gives it a double-shell silhouette,” said Patricia when describing the soft lines of the series. Crinoline outdoor chairs and armchairs are comfortable, feminine and romantic.

Crinoline is an innovation in taste. An opening. A product that encloses all of the sensitivity of a team working in collaboration with the B&B Italia Research and Development Centre. We left from Italy for the Far East with an aluminium structure: light, recyclable, resistant, completely rustproof and therefore perfect for outdoor use, and everything concerning the weave was changed. The creative process took shape through comparisons with the strengths and weaknesses of manual techniques and love for these traditional arts. Expert weavers tried time and again, but the perfect result escaped us. The woven cover of Crinoline emerged like the Arianna’s cloth: “I gave birth to it with the people who were working on it with me,” said Patricia. As a result, it is a collation of codes and languages. The 1800s, digital information, technology and hand crafted excellence.