"The modern girl’s Martha Stewart" wrote the New York Times when describing Brooklyn-based Athena Calderone, the multidisciplinary creative behind EyeSwoon's love of design, food and entertaining. Athena recently teamed up with B&B Italia to explore the "swoonyness" of the classic Camaleonda.
Inside Athena Calderone mid-century modern Long Island weekender with the classic Camaleonda. Photo c/o B&B Italia.
“For me what feels really romantic is the way a design dialogue is born in a home and for me the Camaleonda was the initial piece that launched the design dialogue of my home.”
Athena Calderone, Founder, EyeSwoon
"Squishy Furniture, Like Sweatpants, Is In", read another headline in The New York Times, identifying the Instagram-lift for super comfy sofas that includes the Camaleonda first designed in 1971 by Mario Bellini, and now loved by designers and musicians, models and stylists around the world. The pandemic had provided the catalyst, and Instagram and Zoom the lens, for reframing the home as the centre of everything, putting our homes to the ultimate comfort test and rewriting the domestic brief.
Ironically it was the Museum of Modern Art’s 1972 exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” that first rocketed the Camaleonda into the spotlight and nearly 50 years later, Bellini's expression of the future remains starkly relevant. When the multifaceted creative Athena Calderone photographed her prized vintage Camaleonda and shared it on Instagram, a new group of fans would be born and a partnership between B&B Italia and Athena would blossum.
"This home is a mid-century modern home and everything was very neutral... this beautiful sage light green offered not only a pop of subtle colour but it also offers an elegance."
Athena Calderone, Founder, EyeSwoon
“For me what feels really romantic, is the way a design dialogue is born in a home and for me the Camaleonda was the initial piece that launched the design dialogue of my home", remarks Athena, who recently opened up her mid-century modern Long Island weekender for a short film released by B&B Italia. The second in the series, each film looks at the way furniture shapes the way we live through the lens of some of the world's most popular stylists. The film was produced by @feline.studio, and directed by Timbuzz See Less.
B&B Italia is available exclusively from Space – Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and Space – Australia.
