Collection: Bernhardt & Vella
Paola Vella and Ellen Bernhardt founded Bernhardt&Vella Design Studio in Milan in 2008. Paola Vella was born in Assisi (1972) and graduated from the European Institute of Design in Interior Design in 1998. Early in her career, she worked for Gabellini Sheppard Associates in New York. In 2001, she returned to Italy, choosing to live in Milan. Ellen Bernhardt, born in Darmstadt (1982), moved to Milan in 2001 to study at the Scuola Politecnica di Design, where she graduated in 2003. The first meeting between the two young designers from Italy and Germany occurred in 2003 at the Milan office of architect and designer Carlo Colombo, where they both worked. Their professional bond gradually formed, and in 2008 they established Bernhardt&Vella Design Studio in Milan with offices in Corso Monforte. They immediately began important collaborations with brands in the sector, working in product and exhibition design, interiors, graphics, and art direction with Arflex, Artemide, Arketipo, Bontempi, Calligaris, Elica, Kitchernaid, Natuzzi, Potocco, Rugiano.
Their design method, rooted in the interaction of art and architecture, is based on constant research, adopting the teachings of great masters of the past and often reinterpreting styles and trends. This approach is evident in the restyling of the Ex.t shop, a well-known Tuscan bathroom furniture company; they also designed the catalogue and the Nouveau line inspired by the Liberty movement for the same company. Their practical and functional products are characterized by soft and sinuous lines. Simplification, subtraction, and linearity are their stylistic signatures, defining items that engage with both classical and contemporary contexts and spaces. They have repeatedly stated that they bridge design and user, and the individual and everyday life; their goal is to seek harmony among parts to achieve a recognizable, elegant, sometimes ironic style, always attentive to functional and technical detail.
Their best-known products include the EOS lamp for Artemide; the Universe table for Bontempi; and the Liberty coffee tables for Rugiano. In 2021, Calligaris, an Italian design and furniture company based in Manzano, entrusted its creative direction to Ellen Bernhardt and Paola Vella, continuing prior collaboration that led to products like the Metro and Square sofas, and the Rendez-vous and Alma armchairs. The office aims to strengthen the company's international image, for example through designing the exhibit at the 2022 Salone del Mobile. They also designed shows for Rugiano (2022) and Arflex (2019 and 2022) at the Milan international trade fair.
