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

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.

The special-edition Thea chair. Photo: 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.” 

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The Draga&Aurel Bea console. Photo: Robert Granoff, Courtesy of DDC

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2019 Summer issue under the headline “Renewed Obsession.” Subscribe to the magazine.