WHO WE ARE
STROMBOLI is a design studio and an online design shop dedicated to contemporary craft, slow design and upcycling. We design and edit objects and furniture that are unique, unexpected and imaginative. Our client is looking for a genuine, original and sustainable design that stands out from what is available on the market, always at an affordable price.
The studio was founded in 2016 in Mexico City by French artist and designer Clémence Seilles. STROMBOLI is named after the Sicilian volcanic island, formed over time by strata of moving magma. The image of this transformable volcanic land in motion inspires our design practice and research for new materials as well as our mission to integrate our creations into a new circular economy. The studio relocated to Milan in 2021, focusing on building a network of collaborators in northern Italy to keep honoring its international commissions.
OUR SAVOIR-FAIRE
STROMBOLI prides itself for having developed a virtuous network of both craftsmen and industrial suppliers in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Mexico. This has allowed us to develop a practice based on highly-skilled craft processes with the use of innovative recycled waste materials deriving from the construction and packaging industries. Our unique recycled foam for furniture and padding is a great testimony of the innovative materials we work with.
STROMBOLI also has a solid reputation and experience in the product development of high quality objects. We worked with dozens of craft workshops on materials ranging from mirror, glass, terrazzo, stone carving, ceramic, wood, metal and textile printing.
For each new project, STROMBOLI is committed to deliver originality and excellence, within a responsible production cycle. We work locally, at a small scale and with limited stock, which allows the studio to keep quality and creativity at the highest level. Our recent customers include Napapijri, Safilo, Mama Shelter, and RSVP Paris.
OUR SERVICES
Product design
We design furniture, objects and accessories that leave no one indifferent. We collaborate with design & fashion brands from around the world. We also work with design Galeries such as Etages project in Copenhagen, Galerie Torri in Paris, and Boetelang in Zurich for collectible design and limited editions.
Scenography
Scenography is one of the oldest competencies of the studio. Exhibition design, museum installations, event design, fashion sets and music videos are some of the sectors we worked in.
Interior design
Stromboli specializes in delivering tailored-made designs with a strong personality. From a complete interior service to a style boost or the design of a particular piece, let us know what you envision for your home or your hospitality business.
Retail design
Whether you are looking to fully design or (re)style a shop, a pop-up, a show window or a commercial stand, we are particularly skilled at designing catchy and appealing spaces.
Special commissions
We work with public commissioners on dedicated interiors or pieces, Private design enthusiasts also commission directly to our studio for the realisation of unique pieces.
FOUNDER
STROMBOLI’s founder is French-born artist and designer Clemence Seilles. She studied in the prestigious Royal College of Art of London with masters Ron Arad, Jurgen Bey and Martino Gamper. Surfing between Science Fiction influences and poetical gestures, Clemence has produced applied and fantastic situations through objects, scenographies, music, and performances. Her work was exhibited in international institutions such as Palais de Tokyo, Foam Amsterdam, De Eye Museum, Frankfurter Kunstverein and Hannover Kunstverein. Clemence co-founded “The Dirty Art Department”at the Sandberg Instituut of Amsterdam in 2011. She co-created experimental music salon “MORTAL RECORDINGS” which toured in the Netherlands and France. Since Clemence founded STROMBOLI design studio in Mexico in 2016, her research focused on new materials and applications for the area of product design and scenographies. In 2021, Clemence started a collaboration with the MAGMA Master Program in Le Mans, France, with artist Natsuko Ushino.
RESEARCH
Stromboli is strongly involved in the search for new abstract and natural resources. We think that our industrial world is arriving at a turning point and we consider a priority the transformation of our creative process together with the use of ancient craft techniques and natural materials. To this end, director Clemence Seilles collaborates with universities on alternative production techniques with the use of recycled and earthy materials. One such example is the Magma Master program at ESAD in Le Mans, France.
COLLABORATIONS AND CLIENTS
STROMBOLI collaborates with institutions, brands, creative studios and fellow artists and designers. Every collaboration reflects the studio’s commitment to an experimental and forward-looking approach. Among notorious collaborators and clients we find Oxydo Eyewear, Andrea Crews fashion brand, Napapijri, RSVP handbags, Grupo Sicario, Galerie Torri Paris, Mama Shelter Hotels, SAIC Chicago, Sandberg Instituut Amsterdam, Magma Le mans, Etages project Copenhagen, Touchetouchethat, Melanie Bonajo, Elisa Valenzuela, Kueng Caputo, and Fabien Cappello.
CATALOGUE OF TECHNIQUES
- METAL
From craft to industry, metal work is part of Stromboli.Associates’ DNA. We work with experienced craftsmen on special productions and rare objects, while developing our furniture on an industrial scale, yet in the neighbourhoods between Mexico city and Guadalajara. - FOAM
We are prospecting for industries producing new plastic materials and composites through recycling of wastes. We work with Mexican, USA and European suppliers, each for their particular products or system process. Stromboli studio researchs applications for… Read more: FOAM - TERRAZO
small workshops in Mexico City and in Guadalajara, as every production needs a dedicated know-how. - CNC
Woods, plastics, metals, mirrors… we are exploring all the possibilities that digital drawing can offer for the production of objects and accessories, letting creativity face such an amazing tool. - WOODWORK
We work together with workshops in the city, exploring a variety of techniques and a range of fine wood. We also develop more industrial processing for contract chairs. - EXPERIMENTAL
At our studio, we test and experiment in order to create new materials, forms and processing. We experiment with polimers materials, recycled ressources, news materials. The outcomes are rather for specials objects and elements of scenography. - GLASS
We collaborate with a handful of small glass workshops in the city of Mexico, traditionally located in the Alamos neighbourhood, a few steps from our studio, those antics workshops remain small and flexible to answer varieble… Read more: GLASS - STONE
We have worked with minerals since the first object collection. Mixing simple and experimental gestures, we collaborate with workshops in Mexico City and in Jalisco, but also with italian workshops in Lombardie. We used those capacities… Read more: STONE
Authors
Allan Villavicencio is a visual artist whose pictorial exercise arises from the chance encounter with the accident, regardless of an unstable order, more open to both certainty and failure. His work was exhibited worldwide and was featured in international press. He has won various awards, including the Mexican Young Creator Scholarship in three terms: 2010, 2013, 2017 (FONCA) or the Acquisition Prize of the National Encounter of Young Art in Aguascalientes (2014). He was selected at the XVIII Rufino Tamayo Painting Biennial in 2018 . In 2017, Allan co-founded the artist run space FUEGO, a place dedicated to the production and diffusion of contemporary painting.
Andrea Crews is an artistic, collaborative and activist platform in the fashion industry. Andrea Crews creates collections inspired by urban cultures and is well known for its innovative upcycling technique. Clothe is a medium, a style and an attitude. By promoting individual action and initiative, Andrea Crews has established a place in the world as a playground for creation and freedom.
STROMBOLI.ASSOCIATES’ founder and creative director is the French-born artist and designer Clemence Seilles. She graduated from the prestigious Royal College of Art of London. Since then, surfing with Science Fiction influences and fascination for ressources, she worked in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris and Mexico city. Clemence has created objects, interiors and scenographies worldwide with most exciting artists and institutions. In 2016 she moves the studio in Mexico city and create a new kind of design label, based on shared ressources. Stromboli is now expanding in Milan, Italia, emphazing on recycled ressources capacities. Clemence is one of the founders of the study Master program “The Dirty Art Department”at the Sandberg Instituut of Amsterdam.
Chilean visual artist, I studied art at the University of Chile. Then I left my country. The great masters and referents I have encountered in the journey, in Gypsyism, clandestine, in chance, in silence, in the unexpected. The main theme of my work is eroticism and female sexual energy, which developed in different media, painting, sculpture, collage, textiles and tatoos.
Eléonore graduated in International Relations from top-ranked universities in London, Paris and Moscow. Although an expert on Russian politics, her command of languages and passion for interior design led her to pursue a commercial career in furniture. Notably, she led the sales and marketing of a French furniture start-up brand in Russia, reaching 1mln€ turnover in one year. In Italy, Eléonore worked in luxury real estate before directing international sales for a sofa producer in Brianza and joining Stromboli.
- Business Development & Project Management
As a Creative Director, Elisa Valenzuela founded Studio Convergences to develop and experiment within the digital realm through animated artwork.
Estrid Lutz, french artist who currently works in Puerto Escondido-Oaxaca. She is graduated from École nationale supérieure des Beaux- Arts, Paris DNSAP in 2016 with honors and previously she studied at the Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Estrid Lutz’s works are hybrids transitionals forms, collages or sculptures made from a variety of resistant, lightweight, toxics innovating materials. Forms of violence, from suffering and war, witnessed onscreen, mutli destructions ,the feeling of missing someone, or being lonely, resonate throughout Estrid’s works in both image and physical form.
Fabien Cappello is a interior and furniture designer. He opened his studio in London in 2010. Since then, the studio has produced work in different contexts; from commercial objects to limited editions and public environments. All work shares a high consideration for both craft techniques and industrial production. Cappello moved to Mexico City in 2015. The vibrant city has served of a very fertil context for the development of his practice. He is now working for Mexican and international clients with his team from his studio in the historical center.
Kueng Caputo is an internationally award design duo based in switzerland founded 10 years ago. “We are super privileged to work as a team and to do what we love.“
Melanie Bonajo is a Dutch artist working with film, performance, installations, music, event organizing, and photography. Her works address themes of eroding intimacy and isolation in an increasingly sterile, technological world. Her experimental documentaries often explore communities living or working on the margins of society, either through illegal means or cultural exclusion.
Ricardo Rodríguez Elías is an industrial designer from Mexico. His work encompasses the design of Architecture, Interior Design, even the production of artisanal and industrially manufactured furniture. He began in 2007 as an independent designer, working in various countries such as Mexico, Italy, the United States and Thailand, in charge of design and creative direction. He is currently part of LCMX, a design office focused on Architecture, Interior Design, and Furniture with a wide spectrum of solutions within the international
Théo Demans works in Bruxelles . This last few years, he co-founded the projects spaces Le Marquis and PostNorma. Together with Clémence Seilles, he created a nomadic recording salon involving a large team of artists, designers and musicians, called Mortal Recordings. He's co-founder of studio touche-touche, working on night clubs, immersive cinema and rare furnitures.
