Interior designer Dara Huang has added another string to her bow by launching her inaugural furniture collection, Dara Maison. Through her interior design firm, Design Haus Liberty, she has curated a global roster of international private residences and hotels, including luxury penthouse interiors at Foster + Partners South Quay Plaza in London, and a house on Italy's Lake Maggiore. Creating her own furniture for the interior spaces she curates was the organic next step.
Dara Maison by Dara Huang
Inspired by nature, the collection is hand-crafted, durable and versatile. Huang partnered with renowned investor Chris Burch from Burch Creative Capital, who helped to bring the vision of Dara Maison to reality.
The collection (shown here at Burch's Miami house) stems from Huang’s bespoke series of hero products: the ‘Athena’ sofa, the ‘Elephant’chair, ‘Little Monster’, and ‘Yin’ side table, intricately coupled with soft cream boucle sofas, Pandora marble coffee tables, deep sage green velvet armchairs, and smoky walnut wood side tables.
Dara Maison tightropes between comforting and sleek design, a fine balance that embraces curvature and structure within each piece that is softened by the material selection.
Despite the opulent materials and elegant structure, the collection has been designed in stain-proof fabrics with families in mind, and can be suited to both modern homes and traditional interiors. Future ideas include a made-to-order range offering the customer's own fabric options to cater for their ideal interior space.
The furniture focuses on living and dining rooms, with extra decorative objects like bubble-style stools, miniature marble side tables, and monster chairs adding colour, texture, and playfulness to sculptural pieces.
Huang began by exploring the definition of 'high quality' furniture, and how it differs from mass production. 'Dara Maison represents something that I have always aspired to create, a designer sofa and furniture range produced with beauty and functionality as the defining elements,' she says. 'With innovative, luxurious design that takes its power from its sculptural elements, each piece is created to withstand the test of time.'
'Beauty and practicality do not need to be mutually exclusive; a piece of furniture can act like a beautiful piece of art, but also be comfortable and durable – and even child-friendly. A place to work or sleep can also serve as a stunning focal piece. The future of designer furniture is in its duality.'
