Actor, producer, and philanthropist Brad Pitt can now add furniture designer to his ever-growing résumé. Pitt, who has long shown an interest in contemporary architecture and design, will soon unveil his first furniture collection — about a dozen pieces, including tables, chairs, and a bed — alongside some 45 pieces from the highly-esteemed designer Frank Pollaro.
In a recent interview with Architectural Digest, Pitt gives us more insight into his passion for design: “I am obsessively bent on quality–to an unhealthy degree. It was this obsession that introduced me to Frank [Pollaro], who embodies the same mad spirit of the craftsmen of yore, with their obsessive attention to detail–not just in the facade, as with a movie set, but even the back of the piece, for the one time you might move it.”
The two began collaborating when Pollaro noticed Pitt’s sketchbook full of drawings of furniture designs.
9268 Robin Drive, Above Sunset Strip: A Modernist Home for Brad Pitt’s Modernist Collection. » View Listing
“Why don’t we make some of this stuff?” Pollaro recalls saying, and from that point on a partnership was formed, inspiring hours upon hours of conceptual meetings (and wine) until ideas on a page reached fruition. Their initial creation, an Art Deco ocean-liner bed, will be one of the many items featured in the exhibition to be held from November 13 through November 15 in New York.
Also included in Pitt’s debut collection will be a dining table, a cocktail table, several side tables, a few club chairs, and a bathtub for two made from Statuario Venato marble. These initial designs will be made in numbered editions or limited production and personally signed by Pitt and Pollaro. Specific figures are not available at this time but you can be sure that they will fall at the high end of the custom-furniture scale.
Commenting on the collection, The Agency’s Paul Lester notes: “In Brad Pitt’s collaboration with Frank Pallaro he reveals an eye for the aesthetic of modernist furniture reminiscent of Eames tubular sculptural lines coupled with a hint of Diego Giacometti’s sculptural furniture inspirations. We definitely see an air of glamor, sophistication, and luxury.”
The collection marks yet another instance where a celebrity crosses over into the design world (Justin Timberlake’s HomeMint comes to mind) and reveals an entirely new side to their creative potential.
To attend the gallery opening, register here.
A few pieces from Pitt’s collection in the gallery below. Click here to see more.
