Zara Home and Vincent Van Duysen launch a new collection, following their collaborative debut in 2022. The inaugural collection was based on the living room, with a focus on upholstered seating, tables, chairs and accessories.
Meanwhile, this new chapter is dedicated to dining, once again merging Van Duysen's design ethos with Zara Home's DNA in a collection that expands the collaboration with dining tables, seating, a sideboard, a cabinet, as well as a full range of tableware and table linens. Like with the first collection, the pieces in this collaboration are born from Van Duysen's desire to dive into his own design archives, revisiting some of his most iconic pieces and styles. 'This ongoing collection reflects 30 years of my work,' he notes.
Discover Zara Home+ by Vincent Van Duysen Collection 02
This new chapter in the collaboration is 'a hymn to conviviality and the enjoyment of a new way of life, slower pace and a more balanced attitude', says Van Duysen. The collection includes objects and themes Van Duysen's has been living with in his own homes in Antwerp and Comporta. The shapes he describes as 'very rational, yet very aesthetic, they give away to simplicity and comfort.'
Timeless and versatile, the pieces in this new Zara Home collection by Van Duysen are imagined for a dining room set-up, but the designer stresses their versatility will see them at ease in every room in the home. The wooden tables and leather-topped chairs that have become a signature element of the collaboration return in different proportions and colours, while the storage furniture reveals Van Duysen's work in a new, uber-practical light. Upholstered seating, like sofas, armchairs and loveseats, return in new colours, including a new dusky pink in fresh linen.
Van Duysen sees every piece in the collection as a multipurpose gesture: the tables are imagined for dining and working or as side tables, allowing for the creation of different hosting situations around them, transforming their functionality throughout the day and seasons.
Similarly, the cupboard is a very special design for Van Duysen: 'It can contain whatever you'd like it to contain.' The freestanding, double-door cupboard has a serious sculptural volume to it, and its minimalist aesthetic is combined with the practicality of its shelves and drawers. Partly inspired by Shaker furniture and partly by old English kitchen cupboards, the designer imagines multiple uses for it, as kitchen storage or to keep books, or even as a bar, illuminated with a light and keeping its interiors exposed.
Part of the collection's versatility was informed by Van Duysen's own approach to dining and hosting. 'I like the size of a more intimate kitchen, where you have a central table to sit with four people, because it's more about intimacy then,' he explains. 'But I have a large, 6m table in my living room, the same I designed for Zara Home: sometimes it's used informally, packed with books and objects, and we make space to have an intimate lunch or dinner. But I use the same table to host dinners for 18 people, or for food displays during standing dinners.'
He designed each piece thinking of this changing idea of conviviality, of furniture and objects that help diners experience each meal and present food beautifully. The dining collection is completed by glassware, tableware and flatware, presenting Van Duysen's own vision for the table. He describes Zara Home's approach as 'human centric', with a focus on creating not only beautiful and functional, utilitarian pieces, but also a well-crafted collection (produced across Spain and Portugal).
'It feels like a homecoming,' concludes Van Duysen. 'The dimensions, sensorial aspects, the look and feel all reflect my work. The collection is essentially about the conviviality, which for me is very important, but also the liberty of using and integrating the table the way you want to live with it.'
Zara Home+ by Vincent Van Duysen Collection 02 is available from zarahome.com and selected stores on 2 June 2023
