Translated by Silvia — Lately at the Furniture Fair in Milan we have been able to admire the urban trendy touch on one of the most famous pieces in the history of design: a piercing applied on the sensual lips of DARK LADY, the new tainted black version of the Bocca sofa.

The original model in red created by Studio 65 in Turin in 1975 in homage to Salvador Dalì has become so famous as to be included in the permanent collection of New York’s MoMA, Paris’ Louvre, Milan’s Permanent Design Collection of Italian design and Denver’s Museum of Modern Art.

Strong piece in the “I Multipli” collection of about180 pieces, Bocca is indeed one of the most famous along with Pratone, Cactus and Capitello. Made from cold-expanded polyurethane a dressed in stretchy material, Bocca and its new version DARK LADY, produced in limited edition of only 1000 pieces, are produces by Gufram, the historical Italian company which is now a part of the Charme group (with Cappellini, Poltrona Frau and Gebruder Thonet).

Strangely though… in the States, this mythical and sexy sofa is known as MARILYN, a love seat, so-called by Eleanore Stendig from Stendig, Inc. in New York, the first importer of Bocca on American soil. The reference is clear!
More images in the cut below.

Translated by Silvia — Here’s a new episode of extremely creative Street Marketing courtesy of the biggest Swedish Furniture giant: after having revolutionized the benches, telephone booths and bus stops in New York (see link below) this time the strategic novelty was thought out to penetrate the Country of the Rising Sun and involves nothing less than a monorail train, completely redone inside and out to travel in perfect IKEA style, spreading the latest colourful collection of fabrics and furnishings of the Swedish house for the launch of the new Japanese store.

The train will circulate until May 16^th and connects Kobe in Japan to the man-made Port Island on which the new dealer, inaugurated on April 14^th, was constructed. It is most certainly a clamorous advertising strategy, totally in sync with the Swedish giant’s idea that all revolves around home, the most important place in the world. IKEA wants to communicate that through the furnishing giant, home can be recreated anywhere, even on a moving train. Indeed, one cannot negate that its products transmit a strong sense of domesticity and that its democratic design is really a contemporary phenomenon of indisputable success.

All images of the train on the link below.

Transmitting the IKEA label going over and above the conceptual borders of houses to the streets and public means of transportation, where the common man lives most of his day, is a great tactic which has positive effects on the visibility of the company, but also on the people who can appreciate, even if for a short period of time, more welcoming and comfortable public environments.

IKEA’s new decorative themes include warm and happy colors (which remind us a lot of the motifs from Marimekko, another big North European name – from Finland – for furnishing fabrics and clothing lines) certainly give an informal and entertaining touch to the wagons of a train that, however elegant and modern it may be, generally comes across as cold and aseptic. Also, seeing such a bright means of transport run between grey palaces in the city is guaranteed to bring warm and positive feelings.

Imagine if your trains were the same. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind, and may actually appreciate it. Not only the children would be more stimulated by travelling immersed in a thousand colors and bright designs!

[from pinktentacle and culture-buzz]

Street Marketing – IKEA furnishes the New York benches