For the relaunch of one of the 20th century’s design classics, B&B Italia went back to Mario Bellini with ideas to broaden his 1972 Le Bambole collection and to embed design circularity within its manufacture. The project would begin a collaboration with fashion’s sustainability champion, Stella McCartney, and the development of their first capsule collection.
The 1960s and 70s were radical decades. The youth movement was in full swing as Flower Power overtook popular culture to the beat of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. It was a time of freedom in both expression and form when a new generation wanted to change the world. For designer Mario Bellini whose career was just taking off, Le Bambole represented a seismic shift in design and a moment when the Italian design industry began its push into new technologies that produced designs, including the 1979 Compasso d’Ora winning Le Bambole, that remain some of the 20th century’s most iconic.
When Le Bambole was first unveiled by B&B Italia at the Salone del Mobile in 1972, it caused a sensation. Model Donna Jordan (a member of Andy Warhol’s factory), was the face of the advertising campaign and Oliviero Toscani photographed her half-naked on Le Bambole. The campaign would be censored for its raciness which only added to all the excitement.
Le Bambole launch at the Milan Furniture Fair 2022 highlighted by the illustrative mushroom fabric designed by Stella McCartney. Photo c/o B&B Italia.
To celebrate its 50th birthday, B&B Italia went back to Bellini to discuss a relaunch and this time its revolution would be in the collection’s sustainable design components and new additions. The ‘Bambola’ armchair now joined by the ‘Bibambola’ two-seater sofa and a double bed called ‘Bamboletto’, and the original three-seater sofa ‘Granbambola’ has been given a deeper seat.
‘I feel the pleasure of revisiting this family again,’ remarked Bellini at its launch. ‘because it confirms to me that it is anything but aged: on the contrary, it is enjoying a thriving and promising second life, a rebirth done in a big way, done with enthusiasm, with breadth, with decoration and with the original flourishes. We have rediscovered its charm, its sumptuous floridity, its softness.’
Designer Mario Bellini and the new 2022 version of Le Bambole first launched in 1972 with B&B Italia. Photo c/o B&B Italia.
‘I feel the pleasure of revisiting this family again, because it confirms to me that it is anything but aged: on the contrary, it is enjoying a thriving and promising second life, a rebirth done in a big way, done with enthusiasm, with breadth, with decoration and with the original flourishes. We have rediscovered its charm, its sumptuous floridity, its softness.’
Mario Bellini
Le Bambole's 1972 advertising campaign featuring Donna Jordan and shot by Oliviero Toscani, here and following, was eventually banned only adding to the buzz around its launch. Photo c/o B&B Italia.
Detail of the new Le Bambole which features circular materials and a softer finish. Photo c/o B&B Italia.
The 2022 editorial campaign for Le Bambole shot by Tommaso Sartori, here and following. Photos © Tommaso Sartori c/o B&B Italia.
On the sustainability front, B&B Italia has created a shell in second-life polyethylene that is 98% recycled. The sofa’s softness has been boosted using 70% less polyurethane foam and the addition of thermoplastic elastomers that shape the geometry and define comfort and breathability. While the biggest part of the redesign was the reengineering of the components for circularity, now 100% of the Le Bambole’s components can be disassembled for repair or recycling.
To celebrate the new Le Bambole and its sustainable credentials, B&B Italia brought in fashion designer and sustainability champion Stella McCartney. and the emblematic ‘Fungi Forest’ print that was seen in her Summer 2022 runway show and ‘Future of Fashion’ material innovation installation during Milan Design Week in June 2022. Now shaping the Stella McCartney x B&B Italia capsule collection, the collaboration introduces a sustainable innovation developed by the B&B Italia’s R&D team, a new 100% biodegradable and toxin-free polyester that leaves no harmful microplastics in the environment.
B&B Italia is available exclusively in South East Asia from Space – Singapore and Malaysia, and Space – Australia.
