Jeanette Armchair

“One of the reasons that we wanted to start SP01 was because we didn't want to be siloed into one kind of ‘Italian’ or ‘Danish’ or ‘Japanese’ style—we wanted to be a bit more flexible,” says SP01 co-founder Matt Lorrain of the design brand that features beautifully detailed, hand-finished furniture conceived in Australia and designed and made in Italy. “If you look at some of our pieces, there are subtle references to mid-century, Art Deco, or even something a little ‘80s,” he adds. “We try to lightly touch on these things but without being ‘retro’ or gimmicky.”

Production in Italy is key to the brand’s mantra of rigorous design and the honest use of materials. “Working with Italians is quite a beautiful thing because they have an atelier-style approach to things and they’re specialists. We do a lot of wood production, for example, but the people who make tables aren’t the same people who make chairs,” Matt explains. “One workshop will work with another workshop and another workshop, and they’ll take joint responsibility to make sure that in the end you get a perfect product.” With tables and seating for both indoors and out as well as sleek storage pieces, SP01’s “perfect product” is as relevant in a New York studio as in a beachside home in California.

Australian by birth and now located in Sydney after an education in England, designer Tom Fereday has turned out everything from both indoor and outdoor furnishings to lighting to electronics and even a wristwatch in his relatively short but much-awarded career. “For me, the process is the same,” he says. “If there is a problem or a project, it must be solved in the most elegant way possible that results in a product that is both desirable and positive.” For him that means celebrating the raw beauty of natural materials and old-school manufacturing techniques, which has led to collaborations with a number of luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and and Lane Crawford.

At A+R, Tom’s work is represented in the debut outdoor range for SP01 as well as refined wood pieces for Stellar Works. “The SP01 Outdoor Collection focuses on bent metal wire as the main material with a mix of marble and wood added in,” he says. “Overall, each piece has a minimal aesthetic but a closer look reveals elegant details that allow this collection to be used indoors as well.” And, the designer adds, he always keeps longevity at top of mind. “I tend to prefer natural colors or quietly subtle, elegant colors that you feel comfortable to look at for a long time,” he says. “Mainly, colors that are not driven by seasonal taste or trends.”