In the world of grado, design is never just a pile of functions. It is always a vessel of emotion.
In 2025, grado will join hands with education pioneer Emerald Hill Children Design Education Institute and the Zhejiang Association of Creative Design. Together, they will bring ten pairs of “adult designers + child designers” to create chairs under the theme “Designing a Chair with Eastern Warmth.”
This series, grado Lab 2025 Parent-Child Co-creation, will officially debut at the 2025 Louvre. It marks the beginning of a creative dialogue that bridges generations.
The sketch of the young designer
Why a Chair?
A chair is the essence of Eastern craftsmanship, carrying within it five thousand years of skill and wisdom.
In traditional Chinese woodworking, being able to craft a well-made chair marked the true completion of one’s apprenticeship. A chair is more than just a piece of furniture—it is a vessel of aesthetics and everyday wisdom shaped by its time. The ingenuity of mortise-and-tenon joints, the gentle warmth of natural wood, and the curved form that embraces family gatherings—all embody the “warmth” deeply rooted in Eastern culture.
At grado, we believe that good design must be grounded in cultural heritage while responding to the needs of modern life.
This time, through the chair, we hope to transform “Eastern Warmth” from an abstract cultural symbol into a tangible quality of living—something to be touched, felt, and experienced.
What Is “Eastern Warmth”?
Some ask: “When presenting at an international exhibition, why insist on emphasizing Eastern culture?”
The answer lies in the personal story of Wendy, founder of grado living: “I grew up with my grandparents. The bamboo chair at home was my spiritual anchor — it carried the memory of family.”
China has never lacked symbols of great design: the handcrafted patterns on the heritage Solar Lounge Chair from Liangshan, the strength of mortise-and-tenon joints that require no nails, and the cultural value placed on family gatherings. All of these embody what we call “Eastern warmth.”
The Solar Lounge Chair jointly produced by grado and the traditional craftsmanship experts from Liangshan, Sichuan Province
In April 2024, grado presented the Solar Lounge Chair at Milan Design Week. We watched Western visitors gather around, fascinated by the handmade details. That moment affirmed our belief: Eastern design should not be reduced to dragons or heavy carvings, but should express itself through subtler ways of living. For example, our chairs consider the spacing needed for family members to sit together comfortably, and we choose woods with a natural, gentle touch — echoing the Chinese preference for designs that feel warm against the skin.
Solar Lounge Chair at Milan Design Week
Why Parent-Child Co-Creation?
The idea of parent-child co-creation comes from observing today’s families: parents are often busy, leaving little time for shared activities with their children. At the same time, children’s aesthetic development is often overlooked, and rough toys or chaotic colors can blur their sense of beauty.
grado invited professional designers and children to work together — designers ensure craftsmanship and feasibility, while children contribute pure, imaginative ideas. The process itself becomes a form of shared companionship.
Sketch from child designer
Our team of designers includes award-winning furniture designers and architects experienced in blending Eastern aesthetics with modern design. Together with the children, they co-created pieces that balance creativity and practicality.
Parent-Child Co-Creation
For example, 8-year-old Nian designed a Cuddle Sofa with five hearts, expressing a child’s pure understanding of love and family togetherness. Chunjuan transformed the memory of a playground into a “never-deflating balloon chair,” keeping joy as part of the furniture. These ideas inspired the adults to rethink the essence of design, while the children learned how creativity must be realized in practice.
Cuddle Sofa Designer: Nian
Buddy Chair Designer: Naduo Lai
Daydream Chair Designer: Chunjuan
This “guided creativity” captures the core of designing for the present: children consider comfort—“Will this material be tiring to sit on?”—while designers compromise on playful shapes to make them producible. The children also visited grado’s Huzhou factory to see the full process of chair-making firsthand.
grado factory study tour
When their sketches became real chairs, and some were even showcased at the Louvre, the confidence the children gained became the most valuable outcome of this creative journey.
From Hangzhou to the Louvre: Bringing the Warmth of Chinese Design to the World
grado at Milan Design Week
For many years, grado has been a regular at Milan Design Week. Yet we are clear: Milan is a platform for professional exchange, while the Louvre is a space where millions experience art and culture firsthand. Here, ordinary visitors from around the world can pause to appreciate a chair that is both functional and full of stories.
For grado, designing for the present is not just a professional term — it is something people can feel in their daily lives.
Our goal is more than a brand showcase. We want Chinese-designed chairs to resonate emotionally with audiences at the Louvre. Perhaps visitors will marvel at the clever mortise-and-tenon joints, perhaps Chinese tourists will recall memories of home from the chair’s patterns, or perhaps a child will point at these chairs and say, “I want to design furniture like this too.” This kind of connection is far more precious than any professional award.
grado Lab: Another Exploration of Design
This parent-child co-creation chair series comes entirely from the grado Lab line.
Many people wonder: what makes grado Lab different from the main grado line? Wendy explains: “If grado is a calm and restrained adult, then grado Lab is an unbounded, curious child.”
While the main grado collection focuses on elegance, proportion, and detail — fitting seamlessly into everyday family life; grado Lab is a “laboratory,” exploring the boundaries of design. It can embrace the cuteness of the Rabbit Chair, the personality of the Backrest Chair, or the childlike creativity of this co-creation project.
Even more exciting, some of the pieces showcased at the Louvre will later enter grado’s production line, making them commercially available. In this way, the “Eastern warmth” that shone at the Louvre can eventually enter the living rooms and studies of families, becoming a warm and cherished part of daily life.
More Than Just an Exhibition
For grado, this trip to the Louvre carries two hopes.
First, a test—will our six months of co-creation be appreciated by Western audiences, and will it truly serve the users’ lives? Second, a sharing — we want the world to know that Chinese design is not imitation. It carries warmth and stories: a single chair can embody Chinese family values, hold a child’s imagination, and convey universal feelings of companionship and care.
In October 2025, these chairs will be showcased at the Louvre in France and later will appear in grado stores in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Jiaxing, Shenyang, and other cities. We invite you to follow this “Louvre Journey of Chinese Chairs” — not just to see design, but to explore how furniture can become a vessel of family emotions and bring the warmth of the East into everyday life.
At grado, we design for the present, letting the world read the story of Eastern warmth through a single chair.
