(smow) blog compact Milan 2014 Special: Thomas Schnur @ Salone Satellite

As regular readers will be aware, unlike The Kinks we are no dedicated followers of fashion.

Millinery is another matter altogether.

There is little that excites us quite as much as a good hat.

And so we were obviously instantly taken by what we took to be an over sized Fes on Cologne designer Thomas Schnur’s stand at Salone Satellite.

It was of course not a Fes but “Felt Stool”, one of Thomas’s newer projects. And a project that is exactly what it claims to be. A stool made of felt.

Not only does Felt Stool resemble the Fes in its physical form, but Thomas engaged the help of a hat maker to create the prototype.

A further brilliant example of the importance of traditional crafts in contemporary product design. If more were necessary.

Headwear aside the stand out object for us on Thomas’s Cologne stand wasn’t Felt Stool but rather the coat rack Rail.

The secret of the design is a cleverly thought through and endearingly simple mounting mechanism based around, in effect, a couple of screws and a piece of rope which holds the bent steel tube frame taught and firm. The result is a very low maintenance and low profile hanging system created from a minimum of materials and with a minimum of fuss. And a product with a lot of character that appeals to us greatly.

Full details on Thomas Schnur and his work can be found at www.thomasschnur.com

A few impressions from Milan.