Over the past couple of years I've developed an obsession with statement chairs. Historic Louis pieces, simple upright designs, sleek plastic ones, big armchairs, loungers and handcrafted wooden pieces - I just love the way the right chair can bring everything in an interior together while saying so much about the owner's personality and design tastes.
My favourites from the spring/summer season include the London-based Swedish design duo Jimmie Martin's Union Jack Louis armchair and dark, glamorous Feathered chair, created in collaboration with the jeweller Hannah Martin.
Founded in 2004, Jimmie Martin produces eclectic, one-off pieces, combining the decadent and quirky with the nostalgic and urban. Their use of street graffiti and period furniture pieces with a palette of intense colours and distressed metallics is bang-on-trend and never fails to make a statement.
Meanwhile, Dror's Peacock chair for Cappellini is a timeless piece that will never go out of fashion. Three sheets of folded, tightly woven felt form the structure around a minimal metal frame. It's a fabulous chair, available in a sophisticated palette of peacock shades that are so this season (and the next, and the one after…).
Then there are the designers who are exploring contemporary takes on traditional Arabic shapes, patterns and motifs, creating new pieces that have a respect for the old. In 2010 we were blown away by the Turkish designer Deniz Tunç's intricate lighting pieces at Dubai's Index exhibition. I've fallen in love with her neo-Ottoman collection of furniture, which combines luxurious glamour with a modern edge.
Looking ahead, transparencies, plays of light and colour, reflections and refractions are key to creating many of the season's design trends. Pitaya's Random8 chair beautifully captures this aesthetic. Formed from eight faceted pieces of clear Plexiglas, the chair is in constant play with its environment since it changes colour and intensity depending on the light and viewing point, transferring coloured geometric patterns onto surrounding surfaces. It makes a wonderful focal point in large open spaces with plenty of natural light.
Finally, the Russian-born Dima Loginoff creates sculptural pieces that display both a simplicity and flamboyance; his work is always evocative, with an elegant beauty that is both masculine and feminine.
I am coveting the Cult chair for its simplicity and sleek yet curvaceous lines. The clean zingy colours would work fantastically with a crisp white backdrop, or look equally cool in a more urban space, mixed with concrete greys and black for an edgy sporty style.
Shelley Pond is the creative director of Scarlet Opus. For more information visit www.trendsblog.co.uk or www.twitter.com/scarletopus
