As a consultant for the Danish furniture company Wehlers, I had the pleasure of working on a project to create awareness through a series of chairs. My team and I developed a solution that incorporated an Haute Couture approach, borrowed from fashion linguistics, to create a collection of seatable conversation pieces that captures and highlight the essence of the Wehlers brand. All the chairs were made from waste material found within the Copenhagen metropolitan city, making them unique and easily identifiable.

Project 13
Wehlers

Subject
Process consultation
Strategic design concept

Year
2022

concept

“How can we create awareness through a series of chairs for Wehlers?” Our solution was the application of an Haute Couture approach, borrowed from fashion linguistics.  The Haute couture chair collection is a series of seatable conversation pieces, aiming to capture and highlight the essence of the Wehlers brand, through an elevated yet easily readable aesthetic. The chairs will be used as tools for the company to grab attention and emphasize storytelling. 

Two chairs: one modern black chair with a solid backrest and seat, and a second chair with a brown metal frame, a distressed white object on top, and a seat covered with frayed blue and green fabric, with a tangled rope hanging from the attached object.

To the left: Wehlers R.U.M. Chair made from re-cycled fishing net.
To the right: Our Haute Couture Ocean waste chair.

A black chair next to a table with a disassembled electronic device, likely a DVD player, on it, against a plain white background.

To the left: Wehlers R.U.M. Chair made from electronic waste.
To the right: Our Haute Couture Electronic waste chair.

Process

A metal electronic device, possibly a circuit board or a part of a machine, mounted on a black stand with three thin metal legs, placed in a plain, light gray studio setting.

Each chair was constructed using waste materials gathered from the metropolitan area of Copenhagen. The connections were created with casted wing-nuts, manually manufactured from recycled aluminum.

Camera pointed at a chair with a backrest made of uneven stone bricks, set against a plain white background.
A stool with a top made of a large piece of rough, charred wood in a workshop or garage setting with concrete floor, bricks, and metal objects around.
Various fragmented and corroded silver metal objects on a red surface, possibly parts of machine or mechanical components.

Haute couture chairs

Extended collection.

Mixed-media sculpture resembling a chair with a beige plastic backrest, orange metal legs, and a seat made of tangled, worn blue and gray ropes. The sculpture includes a white rope hanging from the left side of the backrest.

The Ocean Waste Chair

A modern chair frame with a brick seat and backrest. The left side shows the brick seat attached, while the right side shows the brick seat detached from the chair.

The Brick Chair

Two metal chairs with damaged, rusty, and worn seats and backrests, positioned against a white background. The left chair has a black backrest with a diamond pattern and a seat with dents and scratches. The right chair's backrest is bent and rusted with a similar seat showing rust and damage.

The Metal Chair

Two vintage electronic television sets with their backs removed, exposing internal components, placed on black metal stands against a plain white background. The left TV shows internal circuit boards and wiring, while the right TV reveals the metal back panel and power cords hanging down.

The Electronic Waste Chair

Two black chairs with torn and damaged seats, mounted on black metal frames, against a plain white background.

The Asphalt Chair

Two metal chairs with white wooden backs and seats, shown from the front against a plain white background, with a small metal rod on the left side of the left chair and a metal handle on the right side of the right chair.

The Shower Glass Chair

Visual

Webpage for a chair company featuring images of chairs made from recycled fishing nets, with sections discussing environmental impact, product models, and environmental conservation efforts.
Six smartphones displaying social media posts, three featuring furniture images with the brand name "Wehlers" and three with text about designing systems and relationships with nature.
Open magazine with a small photograph on the left page of a man wearing an orange jacket and black hat, sitting on a red chair outdoors near white buildings, and a large black bold word 'Title' on the right page.
Open magazine with large bold text on the left and a small image on the right. The large text says 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing,' and the small image shows a person in an orange jacket and black hat, sitting on a chair against a background of upward-trending bar charts.

implementation & marketing

Open magazine displaying fashion collection called Weber's Haute Couture Collection with images of an unconventional chair design featuring a stuffed animal, colorful fabric, and orange legs, shown from multiple angles.
Open magazine featuring a photo of an office chair and a vintage computer on a small table, part of the Weblers Haute couture collection, with a series of images showing the computer at different angles.