Asia Designers Directory - Revolutionary Le Bambole Collection Turns 50

B&B Italia collaborated with designer Mario Bellini to expand his iconic Le Bambole collection from 1972 and incorporate circular design principles. This led to a partnership with fashion designer Stella McCartney to create their first capsule collection. Le Bambole was a revolutionary design of the 60s and 70s, reflecting the Italian design industry’s push for new technologies. The 1972 unveiling of Le Bambole at Salone del Mobile created a sensation, with its controversial advertising campaign featuring model Donna Jordan, photographed half-naked on the furniture piece by Oliviero Toscani.

: Le Bambole launch at the Milan Furniture Fair 2022 highlighted by the illustrative mushroom fabric designed by Stella McCartney. Photo c/o B&B Italia.

To celebrate its 50th birthday, B&B Italia went back to Bellini to discuss a relaunch and this time its revolution would be in the collection’s sustainable design components and new additions. The “Bambola” armchair now joined by the “Bibambola” two-seater sofa and a double bed called “Bamboletto”, and the original three-seater sofa “Granbambola” has been given a deeper seat.

“I feel the pleasure of revisiting this family again,” remarked Bellini at its launch. “Because it confirms to me that it is anything but aged: on the contrary, it is enjoying a thriving and promising second life, a rebirth done in a big way, done with enthusiasm, with breadth, with decoration and with the original flourishes. We have rediscovered its charm, its sumptuous floridity, its softness.”

: Designer Mario Bellini and the new 2022 version of Le Bambole first launched in 1972 with B&B Italia. Photo c/o B&B Italia.

B&B Italia has made their Le Bambole sofa more sustainable by using 98% recycled polyethylene for the shell and reducing polyurethane foam by 70%. The sofa’s components have been reengineered for circularity, making them 100% disassemblable for repair or recycling. To showcase the Le Bambole’s sustainability, B&B Italia collaborated with Stella McCartney, introducing a new 100% biodegradable and toxin-free polyester. The Stella McCartney x B&B Italia capsule collection features the ‘Fungi Forest’ print seen in her Summer 2022 runway show and Milan Design Week. B&B Italia products are available exclusively in South East Asia from Space – Singapore and Malaysia, and Space – Australia.