Design

This Design Duo Transforms Vintage Furnishings Into One-of-a-Kind Masterpieces

Draga&Aurel’s unique works for Baxter are inspired by fashion and art

June 17, 2019

Two people standing against a gray background, one with long hair and the other bald, both wearing casual outfits. — The designers, Draga Obradovic (left) and Aurel Basedow. Photo: Piero Gemelli

Flea-market furniture can be a siren song for decor aficionados, but discovering a piece that matches a modern sensibility is a treasure hunt of epic proportions. Enter Draga Obradovic and Aurel Basedow, of Draga&Aurel, who have turned the search into an art form. For their unique collection for Baxter, available at DDC, the design duo scour the globe for midcentury cabinets, chairs, and other furnishings, then reconstruct them with textiles, resins, and other unique finishes. “Sometimes we’re inspired by fashion, sometimes by art or style,” says Obradovic, whose gift for painting directly on fabric helps elevate pieces like the special-edition Thea chair.

Modern chair with geometric patterned backrest, leather seat, and gold armrests on a wooden frame. — The special-edition Thea chair. Robert Granoff, Courtesy of DDC

Influenced by industrial designers like Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass, Obradovic and Basedow use a time-intensive process, so new collections are released only twice a year and each encompasses 20 pieces at most. “Every year we try to offer a new vision in tune with the mood of color and pattern that we are loving at the moment,” says Obradovic, “but our goal is always to find the right blend so that when they come together it seems so right that they couldn’t have been combined in any other way.”