Five Minutes w/ Steelotto

We’re very excited to introduce the latest brand to join the JRF offering, Steelotto. Steelotto is an Australian design brand created by Alexander Cummins and Remy Cerritelli, curating collections of design objects and furniture. Under the creative direction of Effoe Design Office, they diversify Australian design by offering unique aesthetics that embrace radical design movements. Steel is their defining material, taking advantage of the quality of steel and the value of local manufacturing.

We recently sat down with Alex and Remy to get to know them more, read the interview below.

JRF: How did the two of you meet and what drove you to begin designing and creating your own brand?

Alexander & Remy: We met at work, after studying Industrial design. We both independently got jobs at the same furniture retailer to learn more about the Industry. It took a while for us to notice, but we had a bit of a moment where we realised our peculiar taste was very much mutual. Over that period of time we talked about designing together a lot and we talked about it some more and when we finally got sick of talking about it we decided to actually do it.

Tell us a bit about the ethos behind your brand Steelotto?

The ethos of the brand centers around steel as a material. At the time of the brand’s inception there was a lot of local timber furniture makers which essentially made up the landscape of the local design scene and it was the rejection of this landscape that really lead us to using steel and metal in quite a singular way.

Hector’s Deli; photographed by Shannon McGrath

Where did your love of craftsmanship come from?

Coming from Industrial Design it almost gets drummed into you, we both have an obsession with process and form, so our love for craftsmanship comes when we marry the two together.

You have stated recently that your brand is ‘unapologetically Australian’. We love this so much and it is one of the reasons we wanted to partner with you. Why is this so important to you?

It was very important for us to inject some Australiana kitsch into the brand. Sometimes it feels like as a country we should embrace this more.

Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca; photographed by Eugene Hyland

What was the first piece of furniture that you made?

I think it is still our best piece!  It was a door stop called “Nonna” which we still use today.

What advice would you pass onto young aspiring Australian designers?

Don’t walk behind horses.

View the Steelotto collection here.

Steelotto is now available through JRF.