Bassam Fellows Launches The Herman Miller Collection
The Herman Miller Collection by Bassam Fellows at Carondelet House, Los Angeles. Photo by David Lauridsen.
As creative directors at
Herman Miller
, multi-faceted design team
Bassam Fellows
is focusing on “the best archives of modern design on the planet,” explains Scott Fellows. Herman Miller approached Fellows (who holds a Harvard MBA and was once creative director for fashion’s heavy hitters including Bally and Ferragamo) and Craig Bassam (an architect hailing from Sydney who designed Bally’s Lugano HQ and a slew of stores) for a renewed look at classics—an endeavor much more complicated than it sounds.
The first goal of the partnership entailed evaluating pieces in production and tweaking details. A case in point: making those Eames Shell chairs in wood veneers of rosewood, walnut, or ash. The second goal was seeing what designs could be resurrected and reintroduced. An example: the Eames Aluminum Group’s outdoor lounge series. That explains the curator quotient.
The Herman Miller Collection by Bassam Fellows at Carondelet House, Los Angeles. Photo by David Lauridsen.
The equation’s third aspect meant collaborating with contemporary designers on new pieces. Out are Leon Ransmeier’s AGL Table and Vincent Van Duysen’s Brabo Lounge Family. Slated for ICFF introduction are a desk and table series by Todd Bracher and two Bassam Fellows sofa groups. Later at NeoCon come chairs by Van Duysen and EOOS. Presented in entirety as The Herman Miller Collection, pieces straddle the line between residential and commercial, and comprise about 225 in number.
No surprise that Bassam and Fellows launched with inimitable flair. In New York that meant a retail site in a SoHo loft. Later in February, LA saw a 3-day extravaganza of parties and a private dinner in the 1928 Carondelet House. Within the masonry construction, now an events venue, modern melded perfectly with the historic in a houseful of rooms.
The Herman Miller Collection by Bassam Fellows at Carondelet House, Los Angeles. Photo by David Lauridsen.
