Arper
Helping Arper carve their identity at the 2019 Milan Furniture Fair
How Supreme Creations manufactured stunning Brushed Canvas Bags for a leading furniture and furnishings brand.
Arper is a world-renowned Italian furniture & furnishings manufacturer. They are a family business known for their integrative and human-centric approach.
Since 1989, Arper has now grown into a brand with vast internet presence. Their work easily stands out for its own unique identity which comes from their choices in colours as well as geometrical silhouettes which are clear and easy on the eye.
How Arper and Supreme Creations collaborated
Arper were looking to create a ‘Premium Soft’ fabric bag to showcase at the 2019 Milan Furniture Fair (Salone di Mobile), as well as a few other global trade shows. Their core belief in keeping their designs sustainable, helped them identify Supreme Creations for their project requirement.
Supreme Creations took over the project along with all the requirements from sourcing, prototyping, creating and constructing multiple fabric bag options to help Arper convey their desired message of ‘Premium Soft’ to their wholesale customers.
The big question - Upcycle or Weave?
We were asked by Arper to ensure that the materials for the new fabric bags were either upcycled from existing Arper fabrics, or new weaves similar to them. Our team at Supreme Creations was up to the task and spent countless hours narrowing down the request by exchanging swatches and videos with the Arper team.
For the first project, Supreme Creations designed a basic CANBLH5 standard canvas bag with some extras and our own flair. Our expertly crafted ‘web tape handles’ were soon recognised as a unique identifier for Arper’s bags. Also, over the seasons we have been matching the print or fabric of the new bags with Arper’s seasonal furniture.
In order to match the requirements of the client, we utilised brushed canvas (SOFT) as an appropriate choice of fabric for the bags. This fabric was the same they had been using in their furniture.
Multiple combinations of the fabrics and inks were tested together to match Arper’s design ideas with reality; and finally water based inks were selected to be used on the brushed canvas fabric that was earlier selected.
Handled per brief
Keeping the design sensibilities and values of Arper intact, Supreme Creations not only matched their ambitions, but also did some more. Communication channels were always open between the two teams for them to enjoy a healthy exchange of ideas as this was not the first time for them to work together.
Our suggestion for creating a ‘standard brushed canvas bag with signature web tape handles’ was immediately successful, and keeping it in line with the client’s views, the final design of the bag was printed using two water based ink colours on both sides.
The new bags created by Supreme Creations were immensely popular, so much so that now Arper’s bags are easily recognised by their signature web tape handles.
Needless to say, the client loved the results and continues working with Supreme Creations for all their new launches!
