Rafael - new creation of Ethimo and Paola Navone

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New collaboration that tells the story of an unexpected, moving philosophy of life in the open air, where design is inspired by nature and creativity becomes pure evasion.

Exotic, natural and… special. This is the start of Rafael, the new story told by Ethimo and Paola Navone. A project that is a child of the exceptional ability of this designer to interpret and rework the aesthetic and formal approach of distant cultures and landscapes and of the Ethimo passion for creating the ideal, harmonious relation between furnishings and their surroundings.

Rafael is the collection of lounge furnishings that aspires to be the emblem of an exotic idea springing from contemporary imagination, capturing the essence of the world’s most fascinating locations to arouse extraordinary sensations of wellbeing and generate new outdoor living experiences.

Created to bring alive the most exclusive outdoor spaces with their own unique personality, this collection ‘absorbs’ the changing, multi-faceted shapes of nature and preserves its vital influences, which shine through in the strength of its lines and the rough beauty of its materials.

Design, materials and decoration in this way generate furnishings with an eclectic soul. Sturdy, welcoming articles with cosy volumes that express colour and energy. Fine artisan crafting of teak, marble and lava stone in fact combines with the sophisticated range of textile colours, again designed by Paola Navone, that enhance the padded furniture.

“A family of seating solutions for any time of day, for your morning coffee, a snooze in the shade or a gin and tonic at sunset,” says Paola Navone, “Rafael is sturdy, comfortable and friendly. Its destructured shape is almost tribal. The slats that form the backrest are all different and held together by big metal staples. This woody, organic shell forms a soft nest of cushions. We have dedicated Rafael to a very special home.”

Rafael is a modular system comprising a lounge seating, day beds and coffee tables. All the elements can be used together or stand-alone. The alternating slats that make up the backrests bring alive the unusual original hexagonal profiles of the frame, in the new distressed natural teak finish. A dimensional rhythm that lends movement and visual aperture, lending these furnishings dynamism and ‘air’.

The backrests are a series of asymmetrical slats held together by special metal ‘staples’ that, together with the frame, create a woody organic shell holding a soft ‘alcove’ of cushions with refined weave and intense colours.

The day bed can be used in two different modes: a unique, comfortable element to embrace the semi-supine body, or a cosy lounge armchair with its own built-in coffee table, whose top stands out thanks to unusual geometrics. The occasional tables, with their different shapes and sizes, stem from a careful, sophisticated combination that enhances the noble quality of wood and the solid texture of their tops, in statue marble or enamelled lava stone reminiscent of the varying hues of the sea.

With Rafael, Ethimo expands its range of elegant, complete, versatile lounge solutions, the result of a constantly perfect balance of aesthetics and functionality. Refined shapes and materials teamed with attention to details and durability make Rafael the ideal collection for satisfying the sophisticated needs of today’s outdoor lifestyles.

‘Rafael provides rhythmic shape and form for a whole day of outdoor living ’