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Painting and decorative techniques open a window into different eras and aesthetics, offering a visual journey through bold graphics and vibrant patterns, enhancing colour in all its nuances. Radici presents the new Chroma collection by Milan-based designer Serena Confalonieri during Milan Design Week 2025 at Corso Garibaldi 17, within the Camera Picta installation, which is also designed by the artist. This project celebrates textile surfaces through a dialogue between architecture, history, innovation and contemporary design in collaboration with wallpaper brand Zambaiti Parati.
Chroma features eight designs divided into four pattern families, each inspired by a different painting and decorative technique. The artistic gesture translates into a narrative of dynamic motifs and graphic elements intertwined with natural inspirations and their visual interpretations, from wind and rain to clouds, lightning and lithic elements. "The Chroma collection moves across different eras and aesthetics," the Italian designer says. "It starts from Pointillism, a dotted version of Impressionism, and moves through charcoal drawing, used by Picasso, Matisse and Hockney, to the Spritzdekor technique of 1930s Bauhaus ceramics, ending with marbling," she adds.
Anticipating the textile surface collection is the Madame pattern, which, together with Pinco, draws from the marbling technique: a process that originated in the East and arrived in Europe during the Renaissance, capable of transforming and redefining the appearance of any surface. Similarly, Madame hides a pattern reminiscent of marble and natural stone within its sharp geometries. Pastel shades blend with bold colours, while precise geometric shapes and fluid brushstrokes create a harmonious and unexpected design, bridging the history and permanence of stone with the modernity of contemporary forms and symbols.
During the design event, running from April 7 – 13, 2025, Confalonieri will also make an appearance with Jambo ('hello' in Swahili), a vase collection that finds its roots in the heart of Africa, blending traditional craftsmanship with sustainable innovation. The project was born from the designer's encounter with Ocean Sole, a Kenya-based social enterprise that transforms flip-flops washed ashore by the ocean into reusable materials and provides employment opportunities for local artisans. The rubber pieces from the collected sandals are assembled into multicoloured blocks and then sanded down to achieve a soft, textured finish that surprises when touched.
The regenerated rubber, used by the organisation as a base for projects and sculptures, serves as the starting point for Confalonieri's collection, which consists of three vase models available in different colours and decorative variations. Their primordial, organic shapes are enhanced by a vibrant, saturated palette and the addition of ornamental raffia and cotton rope inserts.
"The vases' lines are intentionally pure and free from excessive details, highlighting the uniqueness of the texture," says the designer. "The colour palette choice also reflects this philosophy, allowing artisans creative freedom as they use random hues depending on the availability of recycled materials. To further enrich the vases, delicate raffia and cotton rope decorations accentuate their shapes and evoke the origins of this collection," she adds. Handcrafted in Kenya by Ocean Sole artisans, the Jambo collection looks toward a world where objects are made from innovative, sustainable materials that can replace conventional ones, seamlessly merging design, sustainability and social impact.
Keep up with STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2025, where we spotlight the most compelling exhibitions, presentations and installations from top studios, designers and brands. Dive into the highlights of Euroluce 2025 and explore all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5Vie, Brera, Isola, Durini and beyond—alongside the faceted programme of Salone del Mobile.Milano this year.
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