RG09. In August 2012, Pico Design announced a collaboration with Porto, Portugal based architect Rui Grazina. The collaboration is a result of Pico Owner and Creative Director Andrea Panico highlighting one of Grazina's architectural jewelry boxes in a February 2012 article in The New York Times. The article, which followed Panico on a shopping trip for jewelry storage options, made its way to Grazina, and the two designers made an instant connection.
After launching her own jewelry box, Panico enlisted Grazina to collaborate on a new concept. The designers created a multi-layered soft jewelry storage piece made of felt and manufactured by Burel Factory. Located in Manteigas, in the Serra da Estrela region of central Portugal, Burel Factory is reviving wool production in one of the last existing wool factories in the region.
PLYWOOL emerges from the concept of building a tridimensional object from multiple layers of fabric. It is a layered storage piece intended to hold keepsake jewelry. Made of wool felt, the jewelry "box" can lay flat or stand on end, taking its place on a nightstand or dresser easily. Multiple PLYWOOL pieces can be placed next to one another, almost like books on a shelf.
The designers intended PLYWOOL to not look like a traditional jewelry box, thus minimizing risk of theft. The cover opens like a book, with a subtle, soft button acting as a closure. As it opens, a graphic core is revealed. Made of multiple layers of felt, this core is peeled back to expose the jewelry stored in each of its openings.
PLYWOOL is available in charcoal, citron, and cerise at picomeanslittle.com and ruigrazina.com.