PERFECT DESIGN IS… IMPERFECT
Young Aucklanders challenge conventions of the design world.
Just talking to Auckland designers Loren Marks and Sarah Carson you get a sense their work is different. Cracking the market is both easy and hard they say, their designs perfectly imperfect – and they are inspired by the embrace of chaos.
Marks and Carson’s business is called Marks and Carson, right? Wrong. It’s Penney and Bennett, named after the respective mothers’ maiden names: “We liked it because one name sounded masculine, the other feminine,” says Marks.
No surprise then the two 26-year-old friends and business partners have a growing reputation for questioning the conventional in their creation of innovative, simple designs for contemporary textile livingware like cushions, linen, duvets and pillow cases.
The pair will be exhibiting their work at the INEX interior and exterior design expo in Auckland early next month, seeing it as a further step in their quest to take their designs to the world. The expo, being held at The Cloud on Queen’s Wharf, opens with a trade-only day on March 31 and will be open to the public over two days, April 1 and 2. Entry is free.
Marks and Carson met while studying at the Whitecliffe College of Art and Design in Parnell and struck up a friendship through their shared love of design. After graduating in 2012 they looked for a job but, unable to find the niche opportunity they wanted, they decided to create their own by setting up Penney and Bennett.
They operate out of a studio in Papatoetoe, a location selected because it is roughly mid-way between their two homes, Marks in Te Atatu Peninsula and Carson in Pukekohe.
But it is the world they are really aiming at. Already supplying stockists in Australia and parts of Asia – as well as throughout New Zealand – they have a vision to take what they call “a New Zealand design perspective” further out into the world.
“When it comes to design,” says Marks, “New Zealanders have high expectation, are sophisticated, refined and, because we are small, are always looking outwards for inspiration. This is why we always have these amazing designs coming from our country.
“It is easier but also harder to connect with the world. We have platforms like Facebook and Instagram for this, but then so does everyone else and there is so much talent in the world,” says Marks.
Marks and Carsons like to take inspiration from nature but also from overseas, particularly Japan and India.
“We’ve always liked the minimalism of Japanese design,” says Marks, “and incorporate this in our work. We see it as a style embracing the imperfect – the Japanese call this wabi-sabi – or perfection in a non-perfect way.
“We also came back with lots of amazing ideas for design and colour after a trip to India. We were especially inspired by how their designs on cushions in palaces are relaxed, not necessarily formal; it again was the idea of embracing the imperfect and in India you have got to embrace the chaos.”
The pair create their designs on a variety of fabrics – silk, linen, organic cotton and wool – and convert them to digital form for finishing on hand-crafted products made in New Zealand.
Most of their work is aimed at homeowners but they also collaborate on commercial projects, particularly in the hospitality industry, where their work is featured in hotel rooms and lobbies. They are also making their work available to professionals like interior designers, architects and upholsterers.