Zambotti is an Italian designer based in Reykjavik, Iceland, working in the intersection of interior design, product design, and conceptual art for his own studio. For his latest project, COAT-19, he partnered with Finnish fashion designer Aleksi Saastamoinen to create an impactful puffer jacket.
— It’s filled with single-use masks collected from the streets, aiming to call attention to the harmful environmental effects of the pandemic-related pollution, he says. Some of the facemasks have been collected from the streets of Reykjavik and some from small companies and after being properly disinfected with ozone gas, they’ve been shipped to Helsinki where Aleksi transformed them into an unusual filling for the forward-looking puffer jacket. The goal is to send a strong message to the entire world, that even during critical times, we should never forget to protect our environment.
The project has been shown at a gallery in Berlin, at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, and back in Iceland during DesignMarch. Last weekend, it was exhibited in Malmö during Southern Sweden Design Days and in June, it will travel to Milan for Fuorisalone.
— We’ve got a lot of feedback, especially on social media, and important international media coverage. I’ve noticed that the project triggered both very positive and very negative emotions in people. This is just as I expected since bold and provocative design like COAT-19 can be disturbing for some kinds of people — which is something that I really love. I mean, you can’t please everyone when you do something very far from the comfort zone, especially the people who are more afraid of the pandemic than the dramatic environmental issue that it’s causing, says Zambotti. He adds:
— At Fuorisalone in Milan, I will also reveal a new creative product, called Sea Level Rise Chair — a statement-design chair that calls attention to the sea level rise topic using upcycled old lifebuoys.
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