At the heart of Casamento is a deeply tactile and intuitive design philosophy, led by South African designer Starry-Eve Collett and a small team of skilled artisans. Founded with the intention of creating environmentally conscious, once-off pieces from recycled furniture frames, Casamento emerged from a spirit of curiosity rather than convention. Without a formal background in furniture design, Starry-Eve embraced freedom over rules, allowing experimentation, play and handcraft to guide the brand's identity. 'It was easy for me to be bold, break traditional furniture rules and basically just play,' she explains. This openness, paired with a strong respect for heritage, continues to shape Casamento's distinctive voice today.
© CasamentoThe founder, artist and designer of Casamento, Starry-Eve Colett.
The brand's work sits at the intersection of innovation and tradition, where experimental approaches coexist with time-honoured techniques. For Starry-Eve, maintaining and refining craft skills is not nostalgic, but essential. 'It only takes one or two generations for skills to get lost,' she notes, expressing concern over a culture of disposability.
Rooted in African traditions that honour ancestry and the past, Casamento's designs aim to preserve knowledge while allowing it to evolve. This balance between continuity and reinvention is visible in every stitched surface and sculpted form.
Upholstery and hand embroidery lie at the core of Casamento's practice, chosen less by logic than by instinct. Starry-Eve describes an unexplainable affinity for textiles, particularly those that bear the marks of the maker's hand. 'The energy you put into something is the energy it radiates,' she says, pointing to the quiet intensity of hand-embroidered pieces. Working predominantly with heavy natural fibres such as wool and flax, the studio embraces the way material weight influences stitch formation, resulting in organic, expressive embroidery that feels intentionally imperfect and alive.
© Casamento
Narrative and symbolism are equally important. A notable example is the pair of chairs created to honour the Tawana tribe of the Okavango, commissioned for a lodge owned by the tribe in Botswana. Extensive research into the Tawana's culture and natural environment informed the project, which also reflects Starry-Eve's ongoing exploration of deconstructing colonial furniture forms. By allowing African nature and symbolism to "invade" the structure of an antique French chair, the pieces reclaim and reframe history, transforming it into something both respectful and unexpected.
Casamento's focus on craftsmanship is perhaps most clearly expressed through its Raw technique, which exposes the inner workings of upholstery rather than concealing them. A bold blanket-stitched roll around the frame defines form and colour contrast, celebrating process as much as outcome. Re-upholstery and project-based work further enrich the studio's practice, introducing historic techniques, materials and collaborative exchanges that continually inform new designs.
© Casamento
At Cape Town Furniture Week 2026, visitors will encounter Casamento not as a static display, but as an invitation. The installation at the Festival Hub is designed as an intimate conversation space where guests are encouraged to sit, relax and engage with the furniture as it was intended. The exhibition also marks the first presentation of the complete Field chair pair, shown together as originally envisioned.
For Starry-Eve, participating in Cape Town Furniture Week is both a creative and communal step forward. The festival offers a platform for collaboration, dialogue and connection with local and international makers, aligning with Casamento's values of openness, craft and shared experience. In a design landscape increasingly driven by speed and surface, Casamento stands apart by slowing down, stitching meaning into material, and allowing furniture to carry memory, touch and time.
More information:
Casamento
51 Main Road, Muizenburg
Cape Town, Western Cape, 7945
[email protected]
www.casamento.co.za
South Africa
