After ten years at Cartier, Lara Bohinc founded her studio in 2016 to explore furniture and object design. Since then, each collection tells a different story, from the rolling hills of the "Anima" collection to the marble ruins of "Fallen Empire." A look at the world of a designer unlike any other.
Based in London and trained in industrial design and metalwork at the Royal College of Art, Lara Bohinc spent ten years at Cartier before opening her own studio. Since then, she has explored furniture and object design with formal freedom: each collection starts from a different imaginary territory and translates it into precise shapes, materials, and artisanal gestures.
"Anima"
During Milan Design Week 2025, Lara Bohinc presented "Anima" in Alcova, at the Villa Bagatti Valsecchi, a historic villa whose faded grandeur and draped fabrics provide an ideal setting for this collection inspired by dreams of nature. The initial idea is simple and poetic: rolling hills, lake shores, organic forms that dissolve the boundary between reality and imagination.
At the heart of the collection are three upholstered seats: the Anima sofa, armchair, and occasional chair , created in collaboration with Maison Phelippeau. Each piece is handcrafted in London, entirely from natural materials: steel springs, horsehair, wool, and pure alpaca wool supplied by Inata, a sustainable French textile brand whose yarn comes from alpacas in the Peruvian Altiplano. The silhouettes evoke natural landscapes while also incorporating the symbolism of lips.
The Dark Woods table completes the collection: sculpted in Portugal from mahogany, its surfaces rest on muscular, rock-like formations, shaped by 5D laser cutting and hand chiseling. The Wild Lands sculptures in blown glass, in shades of pink, pistachio, or smoky hues, produced in Bohemia by master glassmakers during the International Glass Symposium, bring the collection to a close.
The sofa, armchair, and chair are produced in editions of 8 + 2. The glass sculptures, however, are unique pieces.
"Fallen Empire"
Also during Milan Design Week 2025, Bohinc Studio unveiled a second collection, in collaboration with Serafini, an Italian brand renowned for its expertise in marble. “Fallen Empire” is a meditation on ruins, on vanished civilizations that have withstood the test of time and continue to speak through the ages.
The collection comprises four sculptural pieces: a round coffee table, a side table, a console table, and a dining table. Characterized by irregular, jagged edges, they evoke those famous ruins, counterbalanced by geometric elements inspired by arches and windows. Lara Bohinc summarizes her approach thus: all empires eventually fall, but their vestiges endure.
The marbles were selected by Serafini from a palette of exceptional materials: Verde Alpi, Rosa Peralba, Verde Levanto, Lava Stone, Verde Ancestrale, Rosa Deserto, Breccia Tavira, and Travertine Romano. Each piece is handcrafted in the Italian workshop, combining advanced cutting technologies with traditional craftsmanship. The collection was exhibited at the Serafini Gallery in Milan.
“Peaches” and “Afternoon Tea”
“Peaches,” launched in Alcova during Milan Design Week 2022, is the studio’s most sensual collection. Three pieces—the Big Girl and Derrière armchairs and the Peachy pouf— celebrate the female form, featuring voluptuous curves, smooth surfaces, and fleshy folds.
Handmade in a tapestry workshop in North London, they combine a wooden frame, foam, and wool fabric. Lara Bohinc states that the female form has always been a source of inspiration in art, but often with an unrealistic, normative perspective.
The collection was presented in a former convent, creating a playful contrast between the sacred and the sensual.
“Afternoon Tea,” presented in November 2021 at Design Miami as part of the Curio program, was the artist’s first solo exhibition in the United States. Conceived during the months of lockdown in London, the collection draws inspiration from afternoon tea rituals.
Five functional pieces, Profiterole Table , Kipferl Desk , Patisserie Table , Afternoon Chair and Kissing Armchair, thus evoke pastry making.
The Kipferl desk is sculpted from Rosa Rortugalo marble with slender legs reminiscent of boudoir biscuits. The Patisserie Table assembles various confectionery-inspired shapes in Arrabescato, Corchia, Carrara, Nero, Arquina, and Rosa Portugalo marble. The Kissing Armchair , with its two overlapping semicircles supporting the seat like an ice cream sundae, evokes an open mouth, ready to eat.
A coherent trajectory
From one collection to the next, Lara Bohinc's approach remains consistent: starting with an imaginary world—nature, ruins, the female form, pastries—and translating it into functional pieces through meticulous collaboration with artisans from around the globe. Portuguese marble, Bohemian glass, Peruvian alpaca, French tapestry, a London workshop: each collection is also a map of craftsmanship. Her work has been presented at Milan Design Week, Design Miami, PAD, Art + Design, and the London Design Festival. In 2023, she received a public commission in the Miami Design District for "Utopia," and a retrospective of her work was held at the MAO in Ljubljana.
