Tamart is a wonderful furniture brand, born out of a love story that led a second-generation architect on a mission to reinvent his parents’ mid-century designs. The story behind the brand is as considered as the furniture itself, and well worth exploring.
I, like most, have a deep appreciation for mid-century design. I feel we can draw genuine insight from that era to help us innovate in more sustainable ways today. The mid-twentieth century represented a bridge between the more involved traditions of the past and the mass introduction of modern materials like foam. Rather than a sudden shift, it was a period of quiet innovation — upholsterers began working with materials like coir, stitching it onto hessian to develop faster, more practical stuffing methods, while the materials themselves were still largely natural. It is that thinking we can draw on now, as we look to move away from foam and back towards more sustainable alternatives. For those sceptical of natural materials, vintage Parker Knoll chairs are proof that these methods can withstand the test of time. A vintage wingchair may look shabby today, but it is a sixty-year-old mass produced item still in circulation. And now that products like natural latex have evolved into practical sheet materials, the more we explore and use them, the more widely they will be accepted.
The aspect of the Clore lounger I am most proud of is the use of a paper dug-roll. This is a technique traditionally used to build structure in shallow upholstery such as stools, where horsehair would be rolled to form a defined well. I have adapted this method to create the bull-nosed roundness that characterises the Clore pieces — necessary because natural materials are soft and need help to hold and sculpt shape. A similar principle is used to build structure in the scrolled arms of chairs, where modern furniture often relies on plastic or hard chip foam. Paper is a far more sustainable alternative, and in this context, equally effective.
From the outset, Tamart have focused on delivering sustainable, responsibly made furniture. They look for the story in everything, and continue to build a collection of stylish, warm, and timeless products. I hope to be part of that story for as long as they will have me. I am committed to supporting this journey, whether that involves passing on knowledge to others for larger production runs, developing further product lines, or simply making one-off pieces.
