Dress Me Up! The Balinese Way
designer: Studio Marcel Poulain (Clémence Plumelet & Geoffrey Pascal)
A playful lounge chair that celebrates Bali’s way of life and architecture. Inspired by the Balinese tradition of “dressing” both people, architecture and sacred objects for ceremonies, the chair is designed to be dressed with interchangeable textile outfits. Developed with CushCush in close collaboration with Balinese artisans, the project highlights the savoir-faire of master carver I Wayan Mardana (Tampaksiring), master dyer and textile researcher Ibu Dayu Puniari (Sidemen), songket pattern maker Ida Ayu Anom (Sidemen), and natural dye specialist I Wayan Karya (Seraya). Together with CushCush team of woodworking artisans, they brought to life a work that combines refined woodcraft, sculpture, and hand weaving into a cross-cultural dialogue between French design and Balinese craft.
Features
- A low wooden lounge chair inspired by joinery details of traditional Balinese wooden pavilion, paying homage to the close relationship between people and the ground in Bali’s everyday life
- Sculptural details include carved hibiscus “ear” ornaments and aren-palm wood keys for highlighted contrast
- Fully dismantlable structure for easy transport, inspired by the portable Balinese weaving looms
- Two interchangeable outfits:
- Ceremonial Songket – handwoven with naturally dyed cotton and silk, featuring motifs of sun, mountains, sea, and Cili, a personification of Dewi Sri. Symbols of fertility and abundance
- Casual Poleng – a reinterpretation of the checkered cloth in soft natural tones, woven with plant-based dyes. Symbols of balance and harmony
Product specification
Materials: prickly ash wood, palm wood, songket woven textile, poleng woven textile
Dimensions: 909 (W) × 894 (D) × 540 (H) mm
Year: 2025
Edition Details: Edition of 8 plus 4 AP
Price Indication: on request
DRESS ME UP! THE BALINESE WAY
Dress Me Up! The Balinese Way collection celebrates Bali’s rituals and architectural traditions through contemporary design. Designed by French duo Clémence Plumelet and Geoffrey Pascal of Studio Marcel Poulain as output of their ADIR 2024 residency with CushCush Gallery, the duo reinterprets the Balinese practice of “dressing” both people, architecture and sacred objects that they observed during their Bali stay. The result is a lounge chair crafted from locally sourced woods with interchangeable textile outfits: a ceremonial songket and a casual poleng reimagined in natural tones. Playful yet rooted in tradition, the chair embodies the Balinese spirit of transformation and devotion.
About the Designer
Studio Marcel Poulain (Clémence Plumelet & Geoffrey Pascal)
Both graduates from Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Clémence Plumelet and Geoffrey Pascal are textile and furniture designers, who founded their own design and interior studio named Marcel Poulain in 2022.
Inspired by the rich heritage of design around the world and from centuries past, they see design as a medium to create a dialogue across generations and cultures. Unrestricted by the industry’s settings, their work is guided by experimentation. Exploring materiality and letting themselves be surprised by artisanal know-how and techniques, they strive to broaden the horizons of their creativity, aiming to create pieces that will sustain the test of time.
Working step-by-step in tandem, from the material to the object, from the furniture to the interior, they develop a comprehensive experience with a strong sense of storytelling, where the scenography enables the objects to come to life. The colorful and playful quality of their creations has earned them recognition, as they are notably featured among the 2024 French Design 100, celebrating the best and most promising French designers internationally.