Karim Rashid – an architect of forms that cannot be confused with any other – introduced his characteristic DNA of “sensual minimalism” to Befame and built a collection based on it

Skew: a modular landscape of soft, shifted shapes, wrapped in looped fabricManza, which he himself indicated as the signature material of this line.

Rashid began with dozens of freehand drawings on colored paper, which better captures the contrast of white and shadow; each line aimed at a "non-straight" rectangle, slightly askew, as if set in motion. The inspiration came from the "gentle, expansive landscapes" the designer observed during his travels—forms without sharp boundaries, freely undulating toward the horizon. Once the composition became clear, the studio transferred the sketches to foams at a scale of 1:10, testing different angles of the sides and the proportions of the offset trim, which were intended to give the shape "a sense of dynamism even in stillness."

Each mock-up was photographed in sidelight to control the play of light and shadow—crucial for Rashid, who believes that soft geometry should "break" light like raffia, not reflect it like a mirror. Only after dozens of iterations was a full-scale prototype created, made of a beech frame, sinuous springs, and multi-layer HR foam; the designers slept on it for a week, testing how the seats reacted to prolonged pressure and whether they returned to their original form with surgical precision.

A detail that reveals the authorAlthough Skew looks like a slightly "offset" sofa, in reality each hidden seam defines the golden ratio grid – Rashid ensures that even invisible proportions convey harmony.

The distinctive piping is made of the same yarn but in a different density, creating a subtle contour when lit; the designer calls it the “shadow line” because it leads the eye along the edge like a horizon line.Usage in Rashid's rhythm

• Configure daily– five modules are enough to change the scenery every weekend: an island sofa, two loungers opposite the windows or an open wave around the table.
• Playing with color– Rashid recommends tone-in-tone beiges and caramel, but encourages “digital courage” – inserting one segment in olive or “Tech Pink” to enhance the impression of displacement.
• Cleaning in a minute– the structure of Manza repels liquids; if a latte lands on the seat, all you need is water and a microfiber cloth – the stain disappears, the loops remain fluffy.