La café by Monchiqe x Studio Lisa Bengtsson

At the January 2024 fair, Minnie, the founder of parasol company Monchiqe, and pattern designer Lisa Bengtsson were commissioned to create an inviting and dreamy café. The result was just as expected – a place to hang out, enjoy good food, do business, listen to inspiring conversations and be embraced by a beautiful atmosphere. Read our interview with Minnie and Lisa below to get an insight into their thoughts and feelings behind this successful project.

What is your previous relationship with Formex?
Minnie: I was only 17 years old the first time I visited Formex, I was working in an interior design shop and already had a passion for interior design. I have also worked as a salesman for various exhibitors, built stands and later as a buyer. My husband Omar and I ran interior design shops for many years and have always loved going to Formex. My personal favorite was the restaurant that used to be in the B-hall. Colleagues from the industry gathered there, you met both people you knew but also many you had never met before, I made many contacts right there at a large table where everyone sat down to eat and be inspired.

Lisa: I have exhibited many times before, but that was many years ago. You could say that I started my career at Formex and was also awarded as a young designer and have also done another café before. So this time it felt a bit like coming home.

Can you tell us about the mission for Formex in January?
Minnie: Our mission was to create a café that would invite meetings, intergenerational meetings in a familiar and warm environment. We wanted to create an oasis where people could come, be inspired and get a big dose of joy. Like a vitamin injection of happiness, color and pattern, all in a sea of parasols. A café with extra everything.

Lisa Bengtsson: So incredibly fun to create la café together with Monchiqe and really go all out. We wanted to create a wonderful place to meet, a place that would feel right in the heart, give an injection of joy and warmth. We want to inspire people to decorate with color and pattern and show something different than what has been so often in recent years… it feels like we succeeded in this.

Can you tell us about the creative process behind La café and how the idea was born?
Minnie: We probably didn’t even hang up the phone in our first conversation with Formex before the design of the café began to take shape. Both Lisa and I had a clear vision of what we wanted to create. However, it takes quite a few hours to realize such a vision. Patterns, wallpapers, fabrics and parasols have been tossed back and forth more times than I can remember. We both love pattern and color and I would say that we bring out the best in each other. It was an incredibly challenging but insanely fun journey we had to make together.

Lisa Bengtsson: I think even when I first met Monchiqe we felt that our worlds fit together really well, dreamy parasols together with my designs and products fit like a glove… so our process of what we wanted to do was not difficult to come up with. We like color and pattern and wanted to do something out of the ordinary, give visitors a new experience… then it was just a matter of sitting for many hours and getting all the details, drawings, products and the feeling we wanted. But it was great fun to do this together.

Why did you choose the theme of the Italian Riviera?
Minnie: We wanted our visitors to experience both warmth and joy, so why not take them on an extraordinary journey. We wanted it to feel like sitting in a small café on a back street near the Mediterranean Sea. The Riviera is a place with lots of everything, colors, patterns and lots of umbrellas. It became an obvious place to be inspired. Plus, our parasols are like something out of an old movie from the Riviera.

Lisa Bengtsson: I have a great love of Italy and take a lot of inspiration from there in general and also Monchiqe has a lot of Mediterranean and Riviera inspired parasols so it was a perfect fit… and we wanted to take our visitors on a journey… from sitting in a lovely café, or lying on the playa, or walking in an alley where the laundry is hanging etc., everything had a purpose.

How has La Café been received by visitors and the industry?
Minnie: We’re still a bit in shock, we weren’t prepared for the huge response we got. We have been overwhelmed with positive feedback. We have met so many inspiring people and made lots of new contacts. We couldn’t have dreamed that it would be such a success but wow what a success it was.

Lisa Bengtsson: Yes, but help how good it turned out… all this love and positive words and feelings we received – I was not prepared for that. People stopped, were moved and happy. It has been incredible in every way. I think people want to be touched, want to feel something in the heart and I think we managed to give a dose of that. So, in short, it was a success.

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La café by Monchiqe x Studio Lisa Bengtsson

More inspiration here

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