Written by Iris te Wieske 

For Salone del Mobile 2012, Italian fashion label Marni recently introduced an outdoor furniture collection, including 80 chairs, 10 deckchairs, and 10 tables, made in Colombia by ex-prisoners.

The chairs are based on the traditional family seats from Colombia, re-interpreted by Marni who modified the woven pattern and created new color variations. All chairs are handmade and consist of metal structure and multi colored PVC threads featured on the backs and armrests.

The production of the chairs was done in the South American country’s city of San Gil as part of the rehabilitation program set up by Antonio. After he experienced the hardness of imprisonment himself, he wanted to do something to reinforce the prisoner’s resettlement into social and working life. That is also the reason why nowadays he leads a studio in which craftsmen and ex-prisoners work together to produce iron and plastic pieces.

The chairs were sold during Milan Design Week 2012 at the Marni boutique, and all the proceeds went to the ICAM institute in milan, an organization which enables the children of imprisoned mothers to spend their first years in a family environment more fitting for their growth.

The collection of outdoor furniture is linked to the ‘L’Arte del Ritratto’ (The Art of the Portrait) project. For this project Antonio worked together with photographer and filmmaker Franceso Jodice to create a photo exhibition. Exhibited will be a series of portraits of Marni teams from different departments, with in the background the chairs made for Salone del Mobile. ‘L’Arte del Rotratto’ is a homage dedicated to the people working at Marni, and will be accompanied by a video that reports the shooting experience.

The collection of 100 chairs, the photo exhibition and the video were presented during Salone del Mobile, at the Milan Marni boutique at Via della Spiga 50. The photos made by Franceso Jodice were published on ANTICAMERA2, Marni’s online magazine. The exhibition now tours to various Marni boutiques worldwide where the local teams will also be photographed. Their images will be added to the next leg of the tour, thus continuously enriching the exhibition.

The project reaffirms Marni’s involvement with charitable initiatives. All the proceeds made from the sales went directly to the ICAM institute in Milan. This organization enables children of imprisoned mothers to spend their first years in a family environment.