Behind Paradiso

Every collection starts with a feeling before it becomes a thing you can sit on. Paradiso began with a mood we couldn't quite shake, the ease of somewhere else, translated into the way we actually live here. This is the story of how it came together.

The season began, as these things often do, with an image. Vintage photographs of Giorgio Armani in the Mediterranean, that particular blend of restraint and warmth, polish and total ease. Sun-washed, tonal, effortless. Nothing trying too hard, everything considered.

That feeling set the tone for everything that followed. It's where the gloss came from, the introduction of Dew and Almond, high-shine finishes that feel sophisticated but never stiff. Cool and polished against the warmth of the day. It shaped the palette, the mood, and ultimately, where we chose to shoot.

We found what we were looking for in Newrybar, just inland from Byron Bay, and the home of Byron-based artist Jai Vasicek.

Paradiso is built on memories of summers that felt lighter somehow, where the days asked less of you, time moved differently, and nothing seemed to need your attention all at once. Newrybar had exactly that quality. Doors left open. The day stretching longer than expected. That soft, unhurried northern-rivers light doing half the work for us.

It's the ideal translation of the idea at the heart of the collection: taking the romance of European summers and grounding it in something distinctly Australian. Relaxed. Generous. Indoor and outdoor blurring into one. A place designed for staying longer and living more loosely.

Something unexpected happened while we were shooting. Artist Kristian Hawker joined us on location and began creating original artworks in real time, responding to the tones of the season, the light, and the place we were in as the shoot unfolded. The pieces became part of the world of Paradiso as it was being built, capturing the palette and mood of the collection from the inside.

Those artworks now live on. A selection is available to view and purchase in selected MCM House showrooms across Australia, a piece of the season you can take home, made in the moment it was created.

There's a ritual that captures everything Paradiso is about, and it isn't furniture at all. Aperitivo, that slow, golden stretch of the day given over to food, drink, and the people you like most. It's unhurried and generous and entirely about being present. Community, friendship, the table as the centre of everything.

We wanted to bring that to life through Paradiso, and it's why the new dining collections matter so much this season. They're built for exactly this: long lunches that drift into evening, the outdoor table set for one more chair, the sense that there's absolutely no reason to go inside.