For designer Wataru Kumano, the best word to encapsulate the character of Kvadrat Febrik’s knitted textiles is “friendly”. Padded, comforting and enveloping, knitted textiles represent a warm, welcoming typology.

It was these qualities that attracted Kumano to the Knit! project. Kumano was drawn to the elasticity, strength, and built-in cushioning of the textiles, as well as the traditional use of knitting in garment design. Kumano’s Hammock Chair has been designed to recall a knitted sweater, gently wrapping around the body and stretching to follow and support its curves.

Kumano studied furniture design and notes that textiles within this discipline are typically used as coverings and surface finishes over a cushioned structure. Given that knitted textiles already posses cushioning, Kumano wished to explore a structure that broke with this tradition.

Hammock Chair is constructed by suspending a sling of Triangle and Uniform Melange textiles between four white ash legs, thereby harnessing the padded softness of the textile to create a seat that comfortably maps to the body of the sitter. In this way, Hammock Chair is a design that celebrates the intrinsic properties of knitted textiles with a minimal underlying supporting structure.