How Designer Armando Cabral Helped This Swiss Furniture Stalwart Make Its First Chair
Life rarely presents us with a straight path forward. That sentiment is reflected, and stylishly, in a new collaboration between menswear designer Armando Cabral and modular furniture pioneer USM, which has resulted in the Swiss brand’s first chairs, bed, and gentlemen’s valet. All of the pieces are grounded in African symbolism that mimics life’s twists and turns.
The partnership was unveiled this week in an exhibition called Nkyinkyim, which design lovers can see up close at the USM Soho showroom in New York City through May 1. The show takes its name from the Adinkra symbol Nkyinkyim, which was created by the Akan people of Ghana and C?te d’Ivoire. It’s an extension of Cabral’s A Casa project, a cultural initiative which taps global artists to co-create timeless products. The symbol is featured on A Casa’s Merino blanket and other products.
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But the collaboration supersizes the snaking symbol. The shape of the custom bookshelf, for instance, is based on Nkyinkyim’s zig-zagging line. Other key pieces include a bright orange asymmetrical platform bed with drop-down storage and a lounge chair that pairs nicely with a chocolate-colored C-shaped side table. The valet, which has a thoughtful seat for you to put on your shoes, also includes a shelf with space for fragrances.
USM has been a staple in homes and offices for over 50 years, and has recently issued a spate of interesting collaborations, including a line of vinyl storage with Symbol Audio. While this may be Cabral’s first A Casa partnership, it’s far from his first. He launched a summer capsule collection with Todd Snyder in 2023, and in 2018 he teamed up with Allen Edmonds on a trio of footwear styles ranging from printed slip-ons to suede loafers. Though Cabral, who started his career as a model, is known for his line of shoes and boots, he also worked with D.S. & Durga on a fragrance released in 2023.
Though he’s undoubtedly surefooted, Cabral admits there were moments of trepidation. After all, this is the first time he’s worked on furniture. “There were a lot of technical things that were impossible to achieve, but we had to figure out ways to do it,” he tells Robb Report. Take the armchair. “It was a sling concept with leather as a key component. After we rendered the vision, we realized we would need to make changes that didn’t feel right for the brand or the concept. As we worked to solve this challenge, the cushion concept emerged,” he says. In the end, “all of our problem-solving led to better ideas.”
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Cabral believes the chairs and bed were “essential” to creating a lifestyle story in collaboration with USM. “We came up with the idea for the Manjak chair right around the time we collaborated with VISO Project on the ‘Home and Away’ collection,” he says of the blankets he produced for A Casa. “USM had never created a chair, so including the first one in our partnership is very special. Much like the chair, the concept of the Mansa bed frame was inspired by our bedding collection.”
The Armando Cabral and USM collection pieces will be exclusively available at the USM Soho Showroom, as well as the USM website and armando-cabral.com. Prices for all of the furniture are available upon request. Cabral revealed to Robb Report that the exhibition will tour the globe after May 1, landing at stops in Los Angeles, Portugal, and potentially Japan and Milan. “There’s going to be an extension of the first release that’s going to happen as we go.” Which means you never know where this partnership will head next.
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