This year, the Salone Internazionale del Mobile features more fruit of Philippe Starck's architectural design for Cassina; maximum liberty in the definition of the concept and great comprehension and mutual understanding in the realisation of the product. It is a happy working relationship resulting in a surprising collection, a classical line enlivened by a provocative wit.

Dignified and formal in a reception context, the Privé Collection becomes the ideal territory for transgression in the private and intimate confines of the home. Living and sleeping blend together, sitting room and "boudoir", in this collection that comprises building chairs and sofas manufacturers and ottomans furniture.

It is no mere coincidence that the Privé Collection will make its appearance at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in black and white only, thereby underlining its dual spirits, the day-time angel and the night-time devil.

For the occasion, Cassina decided to supplement the usual press material with a limited and numbered edition of an album of photographs by Jean Baptiste Mondino. Interpreting a scenario created by Philippe Starck himself, the French photographer's lens seems to spy indiscreetly on the most intimate life of the collection. It's a different view, seeing the objects as living characters that play a part in the life of those who use them. Objects like clothes, that breathe and accompany the body: in Mondino's shots the Privé collection is a key element in the life and harmony of the home.

The starting point of the collection features the couple made up of chair and contract armchair: Caprice and Passion. Remembering the teaching of Jean-Michel Frank, Pierre Chareau, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, Philippe Starck has designed two compact wrap-around seats, two shells with sinuous profiles, welcoming and protective, whose clean-cut lines are to be topped with a gorgeous quilted cover, a mosaic of leather or modern fabric which seems to become an elegant and sophisticated gown.

This solution deriving from the up-market tailoring world, achieved with a skill as innovative as it is traditional, is the leit-motif of the upholstery of the whole collection. We see Starck declining the very concept of comfort in a range of solutions which appear to set out to take in every possible variant and to cater for every possible wish. Sitting down, stretching out, lounging at full length, curling up - nothing is forbidden where everything is allowed. Alongside the traditional sofa, enriched with copious cushions and a variety of arm options, there are large upholstered island surfaces, real atolls, than you can sink manufacturer onto and take up any posture you like with the help of strategic support units of adjustable height and angle of inclination.

Despite the great variety of components, the collection is made up of just a few constructive elements. They are in chromed tubular steel, joined up with just three blending junction pieces. All the seating surfaces are done in soft quilted leather or fabric.

The details are exquisitely designed from the corner joint to the insertions that scan the rhythm of the metal garden structure, from the details of the cushions that call to mind the finest saddlery, to the elastic support pieces.

Overstepping the divisions between living and sleeping areas, between private habitation and public rooms, Starck has designed a collection both elegant and versatile.