Can elegant, functional design also be whimsical, humorous – and delicious? Such a concept is achievable for Ross Didier, and the latest treats he’s bringing to the table prove the point. We have to ask, however, is the First Bite Collection – Didier’s newest – more gastronomy or furnishings?

It’s a serious question. Each chair, pendant lamp, table or ottoman looks like any number of little deadlies that adorn the tea table. Inspired by the dreams of fine desserts, bursts of colour and sweetness, the First Bite range is an equally frivolous and thoughtful meditation on the relationships we maintain with one another, and with food.

“Food connects us to one another” says Ross Didier, “you to me, and me to you. It tells us we are human, we are equal, and that we share the same needs, the same sweet delights”.

And it’s this real human warmth that brings so much to the aesthetic success of this collection. The sale of the range supports SecondBite, an organisation that endeavours to provide all Australians access to fresh food. “Take the first bite into a piece from our decadent design collection and the second bite is shared with someone who can really use one”.

In a pastel and colour scheme with accents of bold primary colours, the entire collection is made from 100% New Zealand wool, cold cured polyurethane foam, oak and solid spun alloy.

Each piece in the collection is playfully supported by a series of Literary Nonsense penned by Ross Didier himself. Here are some of our picks:

Gelava Chair

Ultra-versatile and ultra-charming, the Gelava Chairs are sculpted in form from cold cured polyurethane foam. This does away with the need for internal framing and cumbersome hard edges. Organic and undulating in form, the chairs are designed with extreme comfort in mind. Manufactured with top of the grade materials, the Gelava Chairs are durable and adaptable.

Then fill your glass with Gelato,
and toast it as you please.
For years have been invested
to bring people to their knees.

Brulaire Tables

Not at all dissimilar to the much-loved French dessert, the Brulaire Table is light and rich – quite a delicious paradox. The use of oak is coupled with super-saturated colours that highlight the organic patterns of the woodgrain and follow through to the soft forms of the tables’ legs (coated in bold enamel powder coating). Surfaces can also be marbled, suggesting the tasty twisting swirls of gelati.

Here we go ’round the ’round and ’round.
The ’round and ’round,
the ’round and ’round.
Here we go ’round the ’round and ’round,
so crowned and gowned the Bru-laire.

Zupello Lights

Akin to a floating canapé, the Zupello pendant light is something like a surreal dream from which you don’t want to awake. Inspired by the shapes and colours of Italian delicacies and pastries, the Zupello Lights are available in a range of bright colours that will complement (or, give that burst of ‘pop’) to any space.

Zupello revolving and sculpted in ore,
with a lightness that floats on air.
The fiddle, the middle,
the portly sized riddle,
with the shape of Parisian éclair

The First Bite Collection will be launched by Ross Didier at Melbourne Indesign 2016.

Designs and Literary Nonsense by Ross Didier.