kettal vimini

wicker, and an island name

The collection grew out of a conversation about Nanna Ditzel and her Basket chair. Urquiola has said that she and Ditzel have a lot in common beyond both being women designers. Vimini is the Italian word for wicker, and she liked that it sounds like Bimini, an island she is fond of. Basket was the starting point, but Vimini is looser and less strictly modernist.

Urquiola described the chair as an object of memory, familiar enough that it stirs something when you come close. The braiding is the classic outdoor kind, used in measured amounts against what she called a rougher wooden frame. Seen from the side or from behind, the silhouette turns clean and modernist, while from the front the deep cushions make it look relaxed.

Synthetic fiber is what makes wicker practical outdoors. Unlike natural cane it will not split or rot after a wet week, and an open braid lets water run off and dry. The cushions are the part to protect, so bring them in or cover them during long wet spells and through the winter. For a house that calls for wicker, this is the Kettal outdoor furniture family to look at.

Tables complete the set: a round coffee table, a low round coffee table and a triangular coffee table in synthetic fiber, whose three corners let it slot between a sofa and a chair. A Kettal Vimini table is sized for drinks and books rather than dinner. Paired with the 2 seater sofa, the full garden sofa and a couple of chairs, it makes a lounge well suited to a covered porch.

Classic braid, a basket seat, cushions piled high.