Pebble Beach, Geneva, Frankfurt: these are the names you expect when you hear that Bentley is headed to a convention to debut a groundbreaking new product.
Milan, though? Not so much.
But that’s exactly where Bentley was last week, posting up shop at Salone de Mobile, the world’s preeminent interior design show. Why? Their new Buxton Kitchen, a two-piece collection — one marble-topped, extensible island, one larch-wood storage unit with diamond-laced glass doors — that supplements the car manufacturer’s growing status as a purveyor of super high-end home goods.
That’s right, Bentley doesn’t just make sub-three-second cars. They also make golf clubs, fragrances (your very own new car smell!) and pretty much every piece of furniture you need to adequately outfit your bachelor pad.
But whereas most of their couches and lounge chairs bear garish Bentley logos and amount to very expensive branding exercises (the couches go for as much as $30k), the Buxton seems like a legitimately inventive and attractive concept.
The collection owes its design to famed Italian designer Carlo Colombo, whose progressive, functional approach is on full display here. The island’s Calacatta Gold marble top is actually a sliding panel that reveals a high-tech electric cooking range when full distended, while the storage unit houses a beautiful floor-to-ceiling wine cooler in its center compartment.
Like their cars, the kitchen units exude elegance from a distance, but reveal tech-savvy details and an exacting attention to detail on closer inspection.
As for pricing? No details yet, but given that they’re asking $30k for that sofa, don’t expect a bargain.
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