Illya Goldman Gubin designs cardboard stools for Bottega Veneta

For Bottega Veneta’s Spring-Summer 2027 show during Milan Fashion Week, the fashion house utilized sculptural seating designed by Berlin-born Ukrainian artist Illya Goldman Gubin. The pieces, part of his ‘Karton Hocker’ series, transform ordinary cardboard boxes into functional stools.

Goldman Gubin creates each stool through a physical process of interlocking flaps without tape and using body weight to crumple and deform the corrugated carton. To ensure the stools are load-bearing, they are reinforced with fiberglass and lacquered in epoxy resin. This method preserves the unique creases, dents, and imperfections of the original material, ensuring no two seats are identical.

The design of the interlocking flaps is intended to evoke the Italian house’s signature Intrecciato leather technique. For the final iteration of the collection, the stools were finished in white and topped with handcrafted leather flowers from the Bottega Veneta Atelier.