Colour changes how we feel before we’ve consciously registered why, something renowned Italian design brand Paola Lenti has built an entire design philosophy around, treating hue not as a surface afterthought but as an engineered discipline, developed through custom, Mediterranean-inspired palettes.
In partnership with dedece
I joined architects, interior designers and design writers at dedece’s Melbourne and Sydney stores this month for the Chromatic Alphabet—44 colour families that map out just how far you can take customisation across the Paola Lenti collections. It first showed at Milan Design Week, and Anna Lenti, the brand’s CEO, was on hand in Australia to launch the event.
Simona Parravicini, chief and senior architect at Paola Lenti, took the room through the brand’s global executions—projects in Saint-Tropez and beyond—where colour was pushed to its full, unapologetic limit.
Anna then walked guests through the workshop portion herself, where they built their own material and colour pairings from a living atmosphere they had in mind. dedece has represented Paola Lenti locally since 1978, a partnership with more history behind it than most in this industry, and one that says a great deal about how deliberately this expansion has been handled.
The timing suits the occasion. In May, Paola Lenti received the Compasso d’Oro Career Award, Italy’s highest design honour, at the ADI Design Museum in Milan. It is the XXIX edition of a prize dating back to 1954, rarely given for a career rather than a single work. The judges pointed to her sustained research into materials and colour, and the technological and artisanal experimentation behind it, work that has genuinely shifted how we think and talk about outdoor and indoor design.
Accepting the honour, Lenti thanked her sister Anna, there from the very beginning and instrumental in the brand’s international reach.
The Chromatic Alphabet maps 44 colour families across the Paola Lenti collections, first shown at Milan Design Week before showing at dedece’s Melbourne and Sydney stores.
Paola Lenti CEO Anna Lenti led guests through the workshop portion of the event, building custom material and atmospheric colour pairings.
