Mixed Media

Designer Ilan Dei grew up on a kibbutz in Israel that made Scandinavian-style furniture. “I was in charge of the cows, but I saw furniture being made; it subconsciously sunk in,” he says. After apprenticeships with a master Japanese craftsman in New York and a boat builder and a metal fabricator in Los Angeles, Dei began crafting his own pieces. In 1996, he opened a furniture and interior design showroom in Venice and now produces furnishings he describes as “lush minimalism”: “They’re minimal in terms of line and form and lush in terms of the materials.” Dei makes a point of using unendangered woods such as maple, cherry and walnut with man-made materials such as acrylic, copper and recycled cast aluminum. His new collection is a mix of hand-woven rattan, velvet and walnut. Explains Dei: “My goal was to create pieces that could fit into any setting--traditional or contemporary--combining both summer and winter materials.”