“I’m interested in making simple things that can be easily accessed, but carry a message of something deeper below the surface,” says Andu Masebo. “Whether that be the conditions under which my products are made, or something about the wider structures that shape the way we consume things in general.” Design enthusiasts might recall Andu’s colourful three-legged candlesticks that have been appearing in the homes of London’s fashion circuit as of late, but we’re particularly taken with his woodwork – and this chair, which Andu describes as an exercise in limitations, is a fine example of why. “The ‘Union’ chair is produced from a single plank of wood. In an attempt to reduce the material wasted during the process, its design is a negotiation between an archetypal form of a chair and the machining processes used to produce it,” he continues. “The positive cut of each piece makes for the negative of another.”

“I make furniture and objects – and some things in between – that are concept-led, one-off and special-edition. I am driven by learning through experimental making and working with materials and processes that are new to me,” says Charlotte Kingsnorth. The designer’s series of ‘Hi!breed’ chairs encapsulates exactly what she describes. No two from this family are the same, yet the way plump squishy upholstery smothers each second-hand wooden chair instantly identifies them as siblings. Colourful, irreverent and genre-pushing, Charlotte’s chairs are alive with personality and punch. “Making them has clearly become an obsession of mine. I see characters in them... Maybe it’s the legs. I find them so inviting and playful,” she adds. “I can’t help but reinterpret them over and over. There is so much to explore – I’m not bored of making them yet.”

First and foremost, Lewis Kemmenoe designs his furniture to be functional. While we don’t doubt that his seats are rather practical, his knack for colour, geometric shape and material make them a whole lot more than a place to perch. “My current work is focused on looking at the emotive and organic nature of timber and combining this materiality with form to produce functional pieces.” The ‘Intersect’ chair, for example, is crafted predominately from beautiful sapele wood with rounded edges and sheeny webbing in tonal greens – it’s almost too pleasing to enjoy as it intended. “Chairs are always interesting to design as they're such a universal piece of furniture,” Lewis muses. “Because of this, they seem to be the piece that people connect with more than any other.”

The work of multidisciplinary creative Jaclyn Pappalardo spans set design, art direction and furniture making – and it’s the latter we’ve taken a liking to. Jaclyn also has a penchant for seating. Dismissing the idea of the chair as a purely functional being, intriguingly she sees it as a study of body, shape and language. “Using unconventional techniques, I explore different materials, forms and processes with the aim of creating something playful and hopefully unique. Colour also plays an important role when designing. Every piece I create represents a certain mood or character,” she explains. The ‘Meta’ chair is one of our favourites and involves a pioneering interlocking system that connects singular linear components. The result is a modular shapeshifting chair that can be continuously added to create something never-ending. “One can choose any colour or fabric, which can then be custom-made to fit any setting and environment it inhabits.”

We first met Mac Collins when profiling the designer for our inaugural issue of The Modern House Magazine. “I’m trying to find a position within the industry where I can discuss personal narratives and create expressive pieces, but also design furniture that can be produced in batch,” he told us in 2020. He’s come a long way in those two short but sweet years – and has even had a solo show at London’s Design Museum. We’re not at all surprised, though. Mac draws on his Caribbean heritage and explores the African diaspora to craft curious chairs and objects. One of his latest chairs is the pretty pink ‘Thaneray (Tenroy)’ chair. Fans may recognise it as a descendent of his celebrated ‘iklwa chair’, which was a striking shade of blue – the same colour as the suit his grandfather wore when immigrating to the UK from Jamaica in the 1950s.

“We aim to design purposeful objects that are elegant and efficient,” explains Risa Sano and Yasuyuki Sakurai, the duo behind Mentsen. The name, which translates to ‘surfaces and lines’ from Japanese, winks at what one can expect from their designs: clean shapes, a refined aesthetic, tactility. This particular chair is a prototype of the ‘Pimlico’ chair, which has since been elevated with black dye and upholstery. But the rawness of the Douglas fir original is, in our opinion, just as appealing. “A chair, in principle, is an object with the very simple purpose of supporting a body. It has existed almost as long as human civilisation,” answered Risa and Yasuyuki when we quizzed them on their affinity with seating design. “That history and references in connection with society, technology and materials make it a very fascinating subject.”

“I really love those gloopy, unctuous forms, which are definitely not considered to be conventionally beautiful,” said James Shaw when we visited his studio for our Modern Makers film series. His work is instantly recognisable for its scrumptious sherbert shades, surrealist shapes and icing-like appearance. To create it, James squeezes out waste plastic from a self-made bespoke gun and sculpts it into all sorts of objects, including delicate-looking chairs. But don’t be fooled by appearances – despite their childlike aesthetic the ‘Plastic Baroque’ dining chair is made for grown-ups and created ergonomically with comfort in mind. “I think making is an intrinsically satisfying thing to do,” James explains. “I embrace the ugly – but in the search for the beautiful.”