Alex Proba and Salehe Bembury speak different design languages. The StudioPROBA founder moves fluidly between murals, interiors, furniture and public art to create exuberant compositions rooted in emotion and color. Bembury, meanwhile, has become one of the most recognizable designers of contemporary footwear, translating fingerprints, topography and organic textures into coveted sneakers and products. However, despite working in different disciplines, both have long shared an interest in how color and design shape the way people experience an object.
Salehe Bembury and Alex Proba with their new collection, Soft Imprints. Photo courtesy of Alex Proba and Salehe Bembury.
This common ground forms its basis Soft Imprintsthe duo’s second collaboration (Absorbed Language released in 2021). The limited-edition collection of rugs and cushions combines Bembury’s signature fingerprint pattern with Proba’s abstract forms and saturated palettes, creating tactile pieces that feel as functional furniture as they do collectibles.
Photo courtesy of Alex Proba and Salehe Bembury.
Rather than treating pattern as decoration, the collection uses repetition, texture and color to create movement in woven surfaces. Two rug designs and two cushion styles merge the designers’ visual vocabulary into something that looks less like mush than a natural progression of individual ideas.
“I’ve always believed that objects should make you feel something,” says Proba. “With Soft Imprintswe wanted each piece to feel happy, tactile and full of life.”
Photo courtesy of Alex Proba and Salehe Bembury.
This emotional dimension has long been central to Proba’s practice, which spans painting, interiors, sculpture and public installations. For Bembury, whose work often draws inspiration from nature and human contact, the collaboration reflects a shared trust in intuition about trends.
“I’ve always admired how fearless Alex is with color,” says Bembury. “We both trust our gut and that’s a much more interesting place to start than a trend forecast.”
Color is one of the strongest connecting points of collaboration. Although their careers have developed in different disciplines, both designers see color as something that fundamentally changes the relationship between people and objects.
Photo courtesy of Alex Proba and Salehe Bembury.
“Alex and I have always shared a similar way of seeing color,” Bembury explains. “Although we work in different mediums, we both believe that color can completely change the way one experiences an object.”
This mutual understanding also shaped the creative process itself. Soft Imprints it embraces the distinctiveness of both practices, rather than trying to soften individual aesthetics.
Photo courtesy of Alex Proba and Salehe Bembury.
“The best partnerships happen when both people have a clear point of view,” says Bembury. “Alex’s work is unmistakably her own, and that’s what makes building something together interesting.”
Proba echoes this sentiment, describing the collection as the product of a long creative dialogue rather than a one-off collaboration.
“Design is a conversation,” he says. “This collection is the result of years of mutual respect, curiosity and a shared desire to create objects that people want to live with.”
Photo courtesy of Alex Proba and Salehe Bembury.
Produced as a limited edition of just 80 rugs and 200 cushions, Soft Imprints will be available in limited quantities on probahome.com and salehebembury.com.
Editorial Transparency: This article was developed with the help of artificial intelligence tools, which may have been used for research, description, editing or copy improvement. Reporting, fact-checking and editorial decisions were made by Design Milk’s editorial team.
