There are moments in a creative life when you realise that what you are making is no longer just about form, function, or even beauty. It becomes about identity.
The IDIO Collection was born in one of those moments. Not as a commercial brief. Not as a trend response. But as a deeply personal body of work — shaped by doubt, emotion, self-questioning, and a long-standing obsession with haute couture.
Furniture That Thinks Like Fashion
I’ve always been drawn to haute couture for the same reason I’m drawn to collectible design: it is not made to please everyone. It is made to express something. Couture is where fabric becomes architecture. Where craftsmanship becomes philosophy. Where a single seam can carry more meaning than an entire mass-produced collection.
Designers like Schiaparelli, Iris van Herpen, Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela, Jacquemus — they don’t just create garments. They create worlds. They create tension. They create discomfort. They create emotion. That is the space I wanted IDIO to exist in. Not furniture as décor. But furniture as expression.
Fabric as Emotion, Structure as Discipline
One of the core tensions in my work has always been the relationship between material freedom and structural constraint. Fabric behaves like emotion: fluid, unpredictable, expressive, soft, sometimes chaotic. Timber and metal behave like logic: disciplined, controlled, engineering driven.
The IDIO Collection lives exactly in that tension.
The drape that refuses to behave. The curve that looks too soft to be structural. The silhouette that feels almost wearable. I wanted each piece to feel like a frozen moment of movement — as though the object is mid-gesture. Just like couture on a runway: a captured moment of motion, emotion, vulnerability, power.
From Garment to Object
When I studied couture, I wasn’t looking at trends. I was studying construction techniques: – How fabric is tensioned and released – How volume is created without weight – How discomfort is used deliberately to provoke thought – How asymmetry creates character – How imperfections become signature. These ideas translated directly into IDIO. Each piece was treated like a body. Where does it hold tension? Where does it soften? Where does it resist? Where does it reveal vulnerability? The pieces were not sketched as products. They were shaped as personalities.
IDIO: A Collection Built on Self-Reflection
IDIO is not about perfection. It is about the uncomfortable middle space of becoming. The self-doubt before growth. The internal conversation we rarely show. The desire to express something honest, even if it feels risky. Haute couture gave me permission to lean into that. Couture does not ask: Will everyone like this? It asks: Does this say what I need to say? That became the guiding principle for IDIO.
Why This Matters in Furniture
Most furniture is designed to disappear into interiors. IDIO was designed to hold presence.
To be noticed. To be questioned. To be felt. Just like a couture piece in a room, it should change the atmosphere. It should change how you experience the space. It should reflect something about the person who chose it. Collectors don’t buy IDIO for practicality alone. They collect it because they see themselves in it. Because it resonates. Because it feels personal.
The Future of HEGI Lives Here
IDIO represents a shift for HEGI. Toward fewer pieces. More meaning. More emotional honesty. More artistic risk. Haute couture will continue to influence the way I design — not aesthetically, but philosophically. The discipline. The craftsmanship. The refusal to dilute. The courage to be misunderstood before being understood.
That is where HEGI belongs. Not in trends. Not in mass appeal. But in the space between art, fashion, architecture, and identity. And IDIO is only the beginning.
Nelli xxx