Transforming waste into elegant design

How the -ISH Gets Made

UK-based designers Matteo Fogale and Laetitia de Allegri joined forces this year to create -ISH, a handcrafted collection of furniture and home accessories made of industrial and consumer scraps. The final pieces appear to be made of stone; in reality, they're composed of blue-hued Denimite—made from discarded denim—and the milky Marblus—made from postindustrial cotton-polyester remnants.

As Fogale explains, the trimmings are shredded and mixed with a bio-based resin composite. Then the designers work the material as they might work with wood, using traditional tools and "a lot of sanding" for a stunning, polished finish. "We love the poetic aspect behind something that mimics beautifully a natural material, but is entirely manmade. This gives us the chance to play with the perception of stone and to explore the properties of a new sustainable material," Fogale says. Check out the behind-the-scenes photos the designers shared with us below.

The -ISH Collection The -ISH Collection

inside the workshop inside the workshop

Denimite, made from discarded denim Material testing

Denim and cotton material in process, photo © Iris Industries, courtesy of Fogale and de Allegri Partially processed denim and cotton, photo © Iris Industries, courtesy of Fogale and de Allegri

minimalist slabs for the -ISH collection minimalist slabs for the -ISH collection

buffing the -ISH collection buffing the -ISH collection

de Allegri power sands the -ISH slabs de Allegri power sands the -ISH slabs

the workshop an -ISH Side table at the workshop

de Allegri and Fogale beside the completed -ISH Collection de Allegri and Fogale beside the completed -ISH Collection

*All images courtesy of the designers.