Designers We Love: Jesse Ede

PHOTOS Adriaan Louw (Exhibition) AND Devin Paisley (Workshop) WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo

In 2011, together with his business partner James Bisset, Jesse Ede launched JesseJames Design.

Since then the duo has grown their business and worked on numerous projects, among them for high-profile brands like Apple, Discovery and Red Bull. Jesse has also been hard at work building his own portfolio of collectibles under his name.

Two of his creations, the Lunar table and the Lunar bench, are making waves. The former was a hit at Design Miami late last year, where it was shown by Southern Guild. “The response was fantastic,” says Jesse. “It’s such an honour. And the opportunity to exhibit alongside artists like Porky Hefer and Dokter & Misses is just the cherry on top.”

“I have always been fascinated by the raw nature of rough organic surfaces such as the surface of the moon. And I was able to celebrate this with the Lunar Collection. The aim of the series is to show contrast between the materials used and the man-made processes that form them into their sculptures. It celebrates the rawness of uncontrollable outcomes from processes uncommonly used, resulting in truly one-of-a-kind pieces.”

The Lunar bench is also proving to be quite the hit: “In late January it began its voyage to London for a Christie’s Design Auction with other selected Southern Guild artists,” says Jesse. He is also working on two more pieces to add to the Lunar Collection, including the nest tables seen below.

Really excited about these new pieces. The new Lunar Nest tables soon to be available @guildafrica and @southernguildgallery watch this space. // #southernguild #guildafrica #cast #aluminum #furniture #tablescape #collectibledesign #sculpture #art #lunar

A post shared by Jesse Ede (@jesse_ede) on Jul 7, 2017 at 5:46am PDT

Follow Jesse’s progress on his Instagram timeline. To view more of Jesse’s work, visit jesse-ede.com.