Nika Zupanc’s acclaimed collection for Sé – our third commission from a major designer – resulted in an extraordinary portfolio with a distinct, cinematic atmosphere. Zupanc's intention was to “make a family of pieces loosely based around the idea of the Olympics and sports clubs” and the influences of ‘Golden Age’ Hollywood and Art Deco can also be discerned. The overall sense is of a visual language that is new yet uncannily familiar, and at one with Sé's values and vision.
Zupanc’s “family” includes the egg-like Trophy table lamp; the ingenious three-sided Olympia dressing table, which refers to the interlocking Olympic circles and reinvests dynamism to this neglected form; and the Full Moon lamp, its flat illuminating head enabled by LED technology. The Loyalty Cabinet is a place for trophies to be displayed with pride, the long and curvaceous Stardust Sofa a seat for heroes. With new technology informing age-old furniture formats, Zupanc says that “Sé helped the objects achieve their marriage of engineering and aesthetics, guiding the creation of this imaginary world of sporting clubs.”
The Slovenian product and interior designer graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2000. Since then Zupanc has gained a reputation for work that, in her own words, “Challenges the rational, sober and utilitarian by giving voice to the intuitive, eclectic and intimate”. She has become one of the most closely-watched designers at Milan Design Week, for her products as well as her installations, which include Love me more, curated by Rossana Orlandi, a Room of one‘s own for Esprit Dior and in 2012, a bar interior designed and art-directed by Nika in her hometown of Ljubljana – all conjuring a similar sense of artifice, glamour and pleasure.