Canadian design and production studio Molo is known for pleated dividers and furniture. Now 20 years since the company’s debut, co-founder Stephanie Forsythe reflects on the evolution of the brand—and the product made of paper that started it all.
Forsythe founded the studio in 2003 with Todd MacAllen, whom she met in architecture school. The pair was interested in buildings and both studied fine arts, trying their hands at glassblowing, woodworking, and metalworking. These experiences of exploring craft not only fueled their desire to try different media but also branch out and create useful objects.
Photo by Alana Paterson
After graduation, they entered a number of competitions and focused on strategies to maximize small spaces, like folding rooms that could be tucked away when not in use. MacAllen and Forsythe sold their traditional construction tools to help pay off their student loans, and were left with little more than a refurbished Mac computer, pencils, and most significantly, paper. The duo then began their playful exploration of this most common of materials by taking apart hanging ornaments and looking at the structure.
Their first models were simple origami-style pieces with accordion folds, and quickly went up in scale, complete with ceilings, walls, and integrated benches. “We realized the structural potential of paper,” Forsythe explained. “There’s a poetic beauty to it, in its delicacy and its strength, too. It’s accessible to everyone.”
Soon the prototype of Molo’s signature product, Softwall, was ready. A flexible freestanding partition, it can be shaped in any curved or linear formation. First made of tissue paper, the designers weren’t convinced there was a market for it. However, while they were in Japan working on a museum project, they saw many pieces, from lanterns to screens, that showcased the material in unique ways. They realized their concept had merit, and that Softwall would be an environmentally-friendly alternative “We had this way of building so lightly with paper,” Forsythe noted. “It is literally 99% air and 1% material, which can be sustainably sourced.”
Photo courtesy of Molo
In 2004, the Molo brand was officially launched at ICFF in New York, with the Softwall as the centerpiece. The response from visitors was positive, and a pleasant surprise to Forsythe, who wasn’t quite sure of what to expect. “From the beginning people were willing to accept Softwall as product design and art at the same time,” she noted. Clients appreciated it as an element to section off areas and form additional rooms in smaller living spaces. Yet not only for residential spaces, specifiers were quick to utilize Softwall for fashion shows and temporary events because of how easy it was to quickly transform a space, especially on a limited budget, and then take it back down again.
By 2005 it had captured the attention of curators, and was acquired for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. Even with this early success, MacAllen and Forsythe continued to refine the Softwall, and today the paper used for the brown and blue styles comes from FSC-certified harvested wood. There’s now also a textile version with the same honeycomb geometry but made from nonwoven polyethylene, which can be recycled.
Lighting and seating are now available, but the team is selective about what they choose to produce and how often, striving to make the most responsible choices they can. “We are stubbornly determined not to get caught up in this cycle, because we don’t need something new every year,” Forsythe said. “We want to instead make things that are timeless, that live with us, that change and adapt, and that you can add to over time.”
Custom textile Softwalls can be ordered in any Pantone color, but Forsythe said that they have a continued interest in how their original pieces change via the interplay of light and shadow, or with the application of new material finishes and hues. As part of these ongoing explorations they will occasionally offer special editions of Softwall and Softblock. At ICFF in May this year, they showed a special petal pink shade that brought in a refreshing pop, while the acoustic panels dampened the sound from the busy show floor.
It’s a busy time ahead for the studio as MacAllen and Forsythe prepare for the Paris trade fair Masion&Objet in September, where they’ll show a rich forest green color. And their newest innovations, Wood Softwall and Softblock, will be available soon. The result of two decades of research, these partitions are made of sheets of translucent, engineered wood veneer, offering another experience within rooms as sunlight changes throughout the day.
Forsythe added that whatever may be next their vision remains the same. “We believe in the idea that you can shape your space, quite literally around you, and transform your environment to suit different things that are happening around you. It’s very liberating.”
