sep verboom x vincent sheppard's AYA collection celebrates rattan craftsmanship

young belgian designer sep verboom has collaborated with manufacturing company vincent sheppard to create the AYA furniture series, for a family project called ‘livable’. combining indonesian craftmanship with belgian confection skills, the pieces reflect deeply human and ecological aspects of design or better yet, an honest collection of homeware.

image (above and main) © piet albert goethals

the result of the cooperation between sep verboom and vincent sheppard is a collection in which rattan is put center stage, along with metal and belgium confected-textiles. rattan is not only a very flexible and rewarding material to work with, it is also very durable thanks to its rapid growth — thus fitting perfectly in sep’s strive for transparent and durable design. to be involved as closely as possible with the development of his new project, sep was present in indonesia during the whole process. according to him, that is the only way of really creating an enriching interaction between the local producers and designer, something the final result can only benefit from.

image © piet albert goethals 

the AYA collection for livable is composed of a set of shelves and a lounge chair that was presented during the 8Th design triennial, HANDS ON, at the design museum of ghent. the lounge chair is a light and airy combination of contemporary materials, with a back that immediately draws attention. it consists of a creatively woven rattan pattern that has been locally developed and based on a manual technique that sep got to learn in a small philippine community. on the other hand, the shelves are a playful interaction between the natural, warm rattan, and industrial looking metal. because of the graphical design approach, the shelves can add a natural yet very modern touch to any interiors; their simplicity makes them very versatile products that could fulfill different roles in a home. 

image © piet albert goethals

image © piet albert goethals

rattan woven pattern 

rattan materials being processed

rattan steaming

raw rattan materials

AYA – a collection of true rattan craftsmanship
video from livable

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom