Like the equivalent "slow food" or "slow fashion" movements, "slow design" advocates the use of natural or recycled materials and campaigns against over-consumption
People visit the stand of Japanese brand Ritzwell at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan.
Image: Gabriel Bouys / AFP
"Slow design" was all the rage at this year's Milan Furniture Fair, featuring sustainable creations made with carefully selected and hand-crafted natural materials in sharp contrast to industrial manufacturing.
Amid the frenzied buzz of visitors stood Atsuya Nakamura, quietly sewing a leather sheath to cover part of a side table, his movements calm and precise despite the comings and goings at his stand.
He is one of some 20 craftsmen who work in a factory opened by the Ritzwell design company on a bay surrounded by lush vegetation near Fukuoka in Japan, a site designed to be "in osmosis with nature".
"We don't do mass production, all our furniture is finished by hand. Design and comfort are very important," Wataru Yano, Ritzwell's marketing director, told AFP.
"Our products are timeless, they last a lifetime and are passed on to the next generation. They are a synthesis of Japanese tradition and contemporary design," he said.