the story behind pedrali’s griante by CMP design

CMP DESIGN weaves past to present with griante series for pedrali

 

There are places that make you stop merely because they invite it. As put into words by CMP Design, Griante is one of those places: a small lakeside town suspended between mountain and water, where life slips by in shimmering reflections. It’s here, that the Italian studio found the soul of their creation for the furniture brand Pedrali, revealed during Milan Design Week 2025. Griante stands as a chair, a lounge, and an armchair, bringing to life a product that with its tactile and woven design celebrates Italian craftsmanship, natural materials, and timeless comfort. designboom had the pleasure of joining the design trio at Salone del Mobile for a discussion, unravelling with them the story behind the chair that was born by the lake, but designed for the world. 

 

‘The town of Griante sits in a sunny, open position — so much so that its toponym is thought to derive from the French riant, meaning ‘smiling.’ Lake Como is our landscape of choice: we love it, and its sparkling beauty amazes us every time. For us, sitting outdoors almost always means doing so to contemplate the lake. And so we imagine that those who sit in Griante will experience the same pleasure — sitting in the sun, alone or with company, on a bright blue day, with a beautiful view in the background,’ begins CMP Design, taking designboom on a mental escape to Como.

CMP Design reveal Griante for Pedrali, reinterpreting the concept of woven seating in industrial production | image © Omar Sartor, art direction studio FM Milano; set design & styling Studio Milo

all images courtesy of Pedrali 

 

 

 

the chair, armchair and lounge versions of griante in milan

 

CMP Design, the Italian studio known for stitching together storytelling into functional forms, has spent two decades crafting design narratives that connect object and place. During Milan Design Week 2025, Michele Cazzaniga, Simone Mandelli, and Antonio Pagliarulo presented Griante — a collection of woven chairs, armchairs, and lounges that celebrates twenty years of Pedrali’s establishment of its wooden division, weaving the past and the present together. Where indoor elegance flirts with outdoor ease, the Italian furniture company adds Griante to a portfolio of deep-rooted expertise in Italian craftsmanship, industrial precision, and a passion for creating design pieces that bind tradition and contemporary living.

 

‘Traditionally, woven chairs are made by weaving directly onto the finished and painted frame. In the Griante project, we made this process industrially producible by separating the bare structural components from those to be covered,’ they tell designboom. ‘The artisanal process remains essentially the same: the weaver applies the same care when working with a disassembled frame, but it’s more practical and comfortable than handling a fully assembled chair. The idea of deconstructing the woven chair came from closely observing the weaver’s work and understanding the practical aspects of wood production at Pedrali.

the collection includes two different versions: one designed for indoor and one for outdoor spaces | image © Omar Sartor, art direction studio FM Milano; set design & styling Studio Milo

 

 

the 5×5 belts of the handwoven seat and backrest

 

A nod to Pedrali’s philosophy, Griante reinterprets the idea of woven seating, overlaying traditional handcraft with precise industrial production. The defining feature is its soft, handwoven seat and backrest, made in Italy from fully recyclable polypropylene yarn belts. These belts aren’t just practical; they offer a three-dimensional texture, divided into five tubular sectors, able to adapt with minimal variations that can cover the entire surface. The natural palettes like the shades of brown, beige, green, anthracite grey, and a pale lake-like blue, only elevate the way the light hits the pattern, bringing a soft but distinct notion to the surface. 

 

‘The aluminum frames of the seat and backrest are covered with a weave made from a mono-material, recyclable polypropylene yarn belt. The polypropylene yarn selected offers excellent resistance to sunlight, retaining its color unchanged even after many seasons of outdoor exposure. It also has outstanding durability against atmospheric agents, along with a slightly textured, irregular feel that diffuses light, giving it a matte, pleasant-to-the-touch finish. Additionally, the tape we designed is divided into five soft, tubular sections, which allow it to adapt to changes in shape and wrap easily around the frames,’ describes CMP Design.

the main feature of Griante is the handwoven seat and backrest made in Italy | image © Omar Sartor, art direction studio FM Milano; set design & styling Studio Milo

 

 

Its outdoor version features a wooden chair crafted for open-air spaces, using iroko wood that carries the warmth of sun-soaked wood, while being weather-resistant and oil-treated. For the indoors, a favourite of CMP Design, Griante is presented in bleached ash wood, keeping the same honest materials and tactile, woven surfaces. This lighter shade brings polished sensibility to dining rooms and lounges. Both are FSC® C114358 certified, supporting responsible forestry. Cylindrical turned legs, oval armrests tapered where they meet the back legs, and discreet aluminium seat supports are thoughtful details that elevate Griante’s modest silhouette into something quietly refined.

 

‘The Griante project was conceived from the start as an outdoor chair, stemming from a line of research we began with Guinea, where we explored the possibilities of creating outdoor seating with wooden components. Unlike Guinea, Griante is made entirely of wood, with the seat and backrest in aluminum handwoven with polypropylene yarn belt. This of course results in lightweight, weather-resistant, rust-proof elements, suitable even for marine environments,’ explains the design studio.‘The light tone of ash wood, combined with the natural, lively irregularities of iroko, softens the formal rigor that defines both the chair’s shape and its woven pattern. It reconnects us with something ancient and universal, shared across cultures. There’s a special pleasure in the touch of wood — a sense of completeness that doesn’t need embellishment or technical virtuosity. The woodworking is simple and minimal: cylindrical turned legs and an elliptical-section armrest, soft in its restraint.’