The Fendi F-Affair sofa by Controvento is a playful take on Fendi's iconic "FF" logo. Fendi Casa’s flagship store opens in Singapore Fendi’s interlocking double “FF” logo – seen on its bags, clothes and shoes – has been reimagined as a modular sofa with plush, rounded edges. The sofa is part of Fendi Casa, the brand’s home decor and lifestyle furniture collection.
It opened its two-storey flagship store in Oxley Rise earlier in July as part of an ambitious Asia-Pacific expansion plan since 2023. The 468 sq m store is the brand’s fifth Asian outlet after launches in Shanghai in 2023, and Seoul, Phnom Penh and Jakarta in 2024. Besides furniture, the store also sells lighting, textiles and home accessories such as carpets and room fragrances.
The international home decor market is expected to grow at a blistering pace in the next few years. According to global market research firm Market Data Forecast, the lifestyle sector, which includes the home decor market, is estimated to be worth about US$777 billion (S$1.04 trillion) in 2024 and is expected to reach US$1.
08 trillion by 2029, growing at 6.8 per cent a year. The adoption of home decor products has been consistently high in developed nations such as the United States, Canada and Germany, and is expected to grow in emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil.
Fendi’s luxury motif was designed in 1965 by the late German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld for the label’s luxe fur line. It initially alluded to “fun furs”, but today also means “fashion-forward” for fans of the Roman luxury fashion house. Its new sofa set, called the Fendi F-Affair, features the logo rendered in three dimensions to make each piece look like a puzzle of interlocking elements.
The design was launched at the Salone del Mobile 2024 in Milan, Italy, in April. The sofa features various components such as a corner piece, a central piece and an ottoman which can be arranged in multiple configurations. Buyers can customise the upholstery from a wide selection of Fendi Casa materials such as curly shearling, which is a richly textured sheepskin; and the Lhasa collection, featuring natural, breathable textiles.
The materials also come in various colour combinations for mixing and matching. It is designed by the critically acclaimed Controvento, a creative collective based in Amsterdam, Milan and New York and helmed by Mr Gabriele Chiave. Mr Chiave co-founded Controvento with Ms Verdiana Vannini following their tenure at one of Europe’s top design firms, Marcel Wanders studio, in Amsterdam.
Info: The Fendi F-Affair is expected to be in stores by end-2024. Prices at Fendi Casa’s Singapore flagship store at 71 Oxley Rise start at $695 for an O’Lock candle. For furniture and other items, prices are upon request.
Call 8686-8590 for a personalised visit. Bubble Planet sensory experience comes to Singapore Bubble Planet: An Immersive Experience lands in Singapore on Aug 31. PHOTOS: FEVER A new interactive exhibition will launch at the Singapore Expo on Aug 31, just in time for the September school holidays.
At Bubble Planet: An Immersive Experience, which has already made waves in Milan, Brussels and London, visitors journey through 10 themed areas, which use colours, lasers, lights and 360-degree projections to create a playful, dreamlike escape from reality. The sensorial “playgrounds” include a sprawling bubble bath ball pit, a virtual-reality room decked out with headsets and funky bubble chairs, and an infinity light experience, which looks to be similar to the Future World exhibition at the ArtScience Museum. The attraction for all ages is co-produced by Exhibition Hub, an international company known for producing immersive edutainment experiences.
It has teamed up with entertainment discovery platform Fever – both companies were also behind the popular Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience that ran in Resorts World Sentosa in 2023. Ticket sales kick off on July 31 at 3pm and an end-date for the exhibition has yet to be announced. Prices start at $14.
90 for children above four years old (children under four enter free), and the first 1,000 tickets sold will receive a 20 per cent early-bird discount. Info: Register for the pre-sale waitlist at bubble-planet.com/singapore Xiaomi’s OpenWear Stereo earphones Xiaomi’s OpenWear Stereo audio device is reminiscent of headphones, with its lack of in-ear buds.
PHOTO: XIAOMI It would not be completely accurate to refer to Chinese consumer electronics brand Xiaomi’s OpenWear Stereo ($199) wearables as earbuds – they are, in fact, “budless”, or at least lacking in-ear buds. The personal audio device is more reminiscent of headphones in how it lightly rests over the user’s ears. It attaches to the ears via hooks, and the “bud” component is made of soft liquid silicone that is gentle on the skin.
The hooks also contain a flexible wire made of a nickel-titanium alloy that help them keep their shape even after prolonged, vigorous use, such as during exercise. Xiaomi says its new “anti-leakage” sound system, using anti-phase sound waves, keeps all audio private, with an artificial intelligence-powered algorithm enhancing the device’s noise-cancelling capabilities. A 10-minute charge will give you 11⁄2 hours of use.
This increases to up to 71⁄2 hours on a full charge and up to 381⁄2 hours with the case. Info: Available on Shopee ( str.sg/HyNf ) and Lazada ( str.
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