
Milan Design Week 2023 was absolutely packed with incredible design, and we still have more to share! Apacheta, a project by Argentinian designer and artist Cristián Mohaded, was introduced by Loro Piana Interiors via an installation inside the Cortile della Seta, at the brand’s Milanese headquarters.
“Apacheta is a message to our Pachamama, it is history, it is culture, it is honesty and respect,” explained Mohaded. Traditionally, apachetas are piles of stones found along paths and passes in the Andes Mountains. They’ve been created throughout centuries by travelers who would carry a stone from the base to the top. There, they’d be left as a tribute and thank you to the spirit of the Pachamama, otherwise known as Mother Earth. Apachetas grew into huge towers that are beautiful and sacred, yet unstable in their age.
The collaboration between Mahaded and Loro Piana began with their shared values: a passion for materials and craftsmanship, and the idea that beauty and harmony can exist in direct contrast. There’s also a shared love of an Argentinian province, Catamarca, where Mohaded was born and Loro Piana sources the rarest of natural animal fibers: vicuña. Apachetas and the landscape found in Catamarca were Mahaded’s starting point in creating a tribute to nature in a sustainable way.
“We approached Cristián knowing his passion for craftsmanship, his research in materials, his extreme love for them, for their textures and contrasts. Everything he creates starts from this and we thought it was the right artist to entrust with our own materials,” explained Francesco Pergamo, Director of Loro Piana Interiors Division. “When we saw the project, we had the immediate certainty that it was beyond expectations. Cristián has not only put all his magic into the materials, but has infused the design with all the values we share.”
The site-specific installation in Milan was transformed into a space where twelve towers – measuring up to eight meters in height – rise up from the ground. The irregularly-shaped, perhaps unstable, “stones” were covered in fabrics from previous Loro Piana Interiors collections, now experiencing a second life. In this way, the man-made landscape invites an open conversation about sustainability and the reuse of discarded materials.
Standing in the center of the handmade apachetas are Mohaded’s furniture designs – sofas, stools, a bench, and side tables. They too resemble stones, with each piece featuring hand-carved elements that create contrast with their upholstery materials. A third material, ceramic in the colors of Argentina’s lagoons, transforms the tops of the tables into serene surfaces between the furniture.
The Apacheta collection is only available by order. To learn more, visit
loropiana.com.