Bethan Gray’s Exploring Eden Collection Gives Natural Waste Materials New Life

In the cultivated pearl industry, shells are considered trash. These shells are just one of the natural “waste” materials tapped byBethan Grayfor Exploring Eden, a collection of furniture and accessories of shells and feathers inlaid in resin that launched this week in Milan atRossana Orlandi.

To create the collection, the British designer collaborated withNature Squared, known for its artisanal surfaces using natural materials that are dominating the superyacht industry. “I’ve always loved natural materials, and this is a new way of working with just that,”Graysays to AD PRO.

Founded by Paul Hoeve and Lay Koon Tan, Nature Squared has provided custom surfaces for some 90% of the colossal ships on the world’s oceans, yet remains a niche firm in a somewhat secretive market. The creative union between Gray and Nature Squared came by chance. “They’re neighbors in our London studio, just two doors down,” she explains, “and I went into their showroom and saw hundreds of different samples.”

A sample of shells taken from the cultivated pearl industry.

Photo: Courtesy of Bethan Gray

Currently, five shells and three different feathers are incorporated into the Exploring Eden collection, consisting of a capiz-shell shelving unit, jade and pheasant-feather lounge chairs, pearl-shell cylindrical stools, a scallop-shell table, and a pen-shell coffee table—each with their natural materials artfully displayed in resin dyed in complementary colors. However, it’s a collection meant to grow—eggshell, seeds, bark, and precious stones are also on Natured Squared’s natural material list. “We had so many options, and really we can do the resin in any color. I had to edit down for [the] time and space available to show,”Graysays.

To gather the pheasant feathers, Natured Squared cultivates relationships with butchers in the game shooting industry in Devon, England—“because these days they take the meat out and, sadly, a lot of the feathers end up in the bin,” Gray explains. Likewise, the chicken and goose feathers are also repurposed from the food industry.

An array of colored scalloped shells.

Photo: Courtesy of Bethan Gray

壳,如优雅范宁扇贝,which changes in hue depending on food source, location, and age, are sourced from Filipino fishing communities with ongoing conservation projects. Recognizable from the chandeliers of the 1970s, the rapidly growing capiz shell is baked “to make it stronger,” Gray explains. As for the pen shell, while the top is used for combs, the bottom is generally discarded—a fact that puzzles her. “I thought, But why? Sure, it’s much thicker and harder to work with, but it's so beautiful, like a black rainbow.” Left in their natural hue, shells are cut into pieces and then joined together like a jigsaw, incorporating a natural curve. “The forms really come from the shells,” Gray notes.

The inlay process is highly complex, meaning it takes Nature Squared weeks to make each highly original and unique piece out of its two workshops in the Philippines, where it employs 200 craftspeople. Since most of the firm’s previous work was made to order, this is Nature Squared’s first collection. However, the prospect of this auspicious debut left Gray unfazed. As she notes, “There's nothing harder than pleasing a super-yacht designer. They take no prisoners.”