Tag: los angeles

Posted on by

The Aura Collection: Celebrating Natasha Baradaran’s 10 Year Anniversary

Los Angeles-based home brand NATASHA BARADARAN celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its collection with the release of AURA this Fall– the multihyphenate designer’s most personal body of work yet. The 15-piece furniture collection unveils in tandem with two bold moves for the NB brand: with the company taking their manufacturing in-house, and its first flagship showroom located in West Hollywood. Together, Baradaran marks her company’s anniversary with an emphasis on creating a 360-degree brand experience.

AURA is a coming-of-age collection for Natasha Baradaran’s studio, and vibrant homage to LA’s creative spirit, marking a new chapter in the designer’s career with refined messaging for her design studio’s core tenets: a commitment to masterfully handcrafted furniture that blend casual elegance and relaxed sophistication into a coveted Baradaran mood.

marquise sofa

marquise sofa

In legacy with the creative spirit of matriarchs of Los Angeles furniture manufacturing, such as design icons Sally Sirkin Lewis, Rose Tarlow and Nancy Corzine, whose female-founded studios shaped the foundation for Southern California’s laidback luxury aesthetic, Baradaran follows in their footsteps to open her first manufacturing workshop in downtown Los Angeles, to proudly carry the torch for female-founded LA design brands, upholding traditions of innovation, empowerment, and community. Working together with her design studio, the move allows Baradaran’s teams to design and produce her collections seamlessly, from design-to-production-to-point-of-sale. This commitment affirms NATASHA BARADARAN as a truly vertical, ‘made in LA’ design brand, while ensuring the highest quality standards, supporting local artisans and reducing environmental impact.

squircle coffee table – aura collection

As a tour de force year in the making for the illustrious designer, 2024 will also see the opening of Baradaran’s first flagship showroom at 400 Robertson Blvd. in the West Hollywood Design District this Fall. After a successful, year-long ‘NB Shop’ pop-up in the La Cienega Design Quarter, Baradaran’s move establishes the next level for her brand’s experiential trade and retail, as her first monoline NATASHA BARADARAN flagship to show her comprehensive offerings: furniture, lighting, textiles, curated vintage and home accessories that are inspired by Baradaran’s multicultural background, fusing European design traditions, Middle Eastern arts, and the laidback luxury of Southern California living.

Every piece from AURA crystalizes the mood of the brand. A range of plush seating and low- profile tables for lounging, reflect Baradaran’s recognizable casual glamour. Her designs are a true reflection of the Southern California lifestyle, offering timeless, versatile pieces that inspire confidence and dedication to high-quality craftsmanship.

brera bench

brera stool

In a time where ‘Iconic’ is overused, attaining ‘Mother’ status has become the ultimate sign of cultural significance. Over the last decade, Baradaran has slowly built a brand that resonates with those who appreciate quality, comfort, and sophistication. At the 10-year mark of her namesake furniture collection, Baradaran evolves from an emerging designer to an established voice in legacy with the creative spirit of matriarchs of Los Angeles furniture manufacturing who inspire us to break the mold, nurturing figures who have helped build LA’s design community, influencing us towards empowerment rather than conspicuous consumption. Baradaran enters a ‘Mother Era’ with a new collection, new workshop, and first flagship showroom to embody the experience of womanhood in design.

Loma chair

Garda Table

leone bench
Natasha Baradaran

 

evil eye chair

cosmica mirror

carla slipper chair – natasha baradaran

Dombak Stoollago coffee table

 

giorgio chair

arco chaise

the aura colleciton – cavallo stool

the aura collection – carlo lounge chair

 

Bangle Stool

Natasha Baradaran – Aura Collection

Seamless product images are courtesy of Natasha Baradaran
Posted on by

EXPLORE APPARATUS LOS ANGELES : SCENE CHANGE 2024

APPARATUS SCENE CHANGE: LOS ANGELES

apparatus scene change reprise

APPARATUS LOS ANGELES : SCENE CHANGE 2024.

Nothing comes into being without a narrative, and APPARATUS, since its inception in 2012, has consistently served a need, both functional and emotional: to bring light to life. The way in which APPARATUS achieves this is under constant revision, reflecting the ever-changing nature of light itself. Light is in constant movement, tricking the eye, blinding, and baptizing. This ethos extends to the latest APPARATUS LOS ANGELES : SCENE CHANGE.

apparatus scene change - reprise

Each APPARATUS gallery functions as a transformative experience. Visitors pass through and exit with a new protective layer, their eyes opened to new possibilities, and perhaps inspired to view their own lives and spaces differently. The term “apparatus” refers to a framework or structure, and APPARATUS serves as a tool to help recognize and understand a wider range of possibilities.

The Los Angeles gallery, first opened in 2018 on North McCadden Place, underwent a significant renovation last year. Sunnier than its counterparts in London and New York, the Los Angeles gallery implements and manipulates light with a distinct visual language. In its second iteration, each room in the gallery is organized as a progression of materials.

median inspiration apparatus

Upon entering, visitors find themselves in a modernist grotto, with rock aggregate walls that are rough to the touch. Here, lights are relatively low, allowing visitors to experience the collections with slightly subterranean undertones. Each room is encased in a texture that invites touch even as it repels. The walls are not smooth, yet they beckon to be touched.

apparatus scene change - median

apparatus LA showroom – median

Moving to the adjoining space, the textural overtones transform from rocky to reflective. Silvered walls reflect without revealing, creating the impression of being inside a Renaissance coffer. After the grounding of the first space, this reflective space functions as a release.

Finally, visitors move from reflection to roots, symbolized by cork lining the walls at the heart of the gallery. “It’s about feeling discovery and moving through layers,” says Gabriel Hendifar, Artistic Director of APPARATUS. Eschewing simple white walls allows the interactive potential of their work to shine fully. Layers, texture, and complexity are vital ingredients in APPARATUS’s creative expression, making it impossible to design without them. The pieces complete the narrative of each space, providing the moving parts that make the machine function.

lariat sconce apparatus

cork walls lariat pendant apparatus

Despite the new material choices in the Los Angeles space, the structural language of APPARATUS remains the same. Like the skeleton of a Giorgio De Chirico painting, clients are escorted through layers of the subconscious via archways, avenues, and repeating forms. These quiet, repeating forms and rich material variety allow the story to unfold.

cloud apparatus

cloud apparatus

trapeze apparatus los angeles scene change
trapeze apparatus lighting

APPARATUS embraces a narrative of renewal, designing lights and furniture to last. Their pieces can be centered, put away, and rediscovered years later, still perfectly relevant. The Los Angeles gallery represents roots and returns – Los Angeles is where Hendifar grew up, and after years of laying new roots in New York, it is where he chose to expand and continue the APPARATUS story. This return to roots symbolizes how the company functions: designing for change and time, embracing both inevitable factors and working in tandem with them.

At the center of this narrative is their dream protagonist: a woman living in New York in the 1960s, embodying the tension between modernity and the arcane. She finds herself in a decade that saw the first steps on the moon and the boiling point of a centuries-long civil rights movement. What would happen if this woman moved to Los Angeles a decade later to find herself? The Los Angeles gallery is the answer.

She has taken the glamour, grit, and extremes of New York, processed them, and funneled the mix into a utopian West Coast ideal, with frenetic energy buzzing beneath the surface. The intention of APPARATUS is for visitors to step into their home in Los Angeles and find new means of expression. For those more pragmatic than poetic, function remains at the center, ensuring APPARATUS never veers off course. Visitors are invited to explore this unique space and discover the intricate layers and narratives that define APPARATUS.

Photography by Matthew Placek.