Words by Allegra Salvadori
Dubai’s design landscape continues to evolve at an astonishing pace, but few launches have articulated the region’s interdisciplinary spirit as clearly as INVERTI, a new capsule collection that merges couture logic with collectible furniture design. Conceived by C’est ici Design, the Dubai-based studio founded by interior designer Monica Arango, in collaboration with fashion entrepreneur and designer Dana Malhas, INVERTI positions itself as a manifesto: a call to rethink how we inhabit, touch, and reinterpret the objects around us.
Unveiled at the Iwan Maktabi Flagship Store on 26 November 2025, the launch gathered the region’s design, art, and fashion communities into an immersive installation of light, colour, and material. The evening echoed the collection’s central premise — inversion — a conceptual turn that invites us to view the familiar through a different lens, and by doing so, extend its life, relevance, and emotion.
At first glance, Monica Arango and Dana Malhas may seem to orbit different creative worlds. Arango has built her studio on a foundation of quiet luxury — interiors of distilled refinement, rooted in craftsmanship and purposeful minimalism. Malhas, meanwhile, draws from a more eclectic universe, shaped by fashion’s rhythm, street culture, and a personal aesthetic defined by modernity and individuality.
INVERTI becomes their meeting point: a place where couture’s attention to detail and interiors’ architectural discipline collide. Here, tailoring becomes texture. Pleats become surfaces. The fluid drape of fabric becomes silhouette. And a bench or side table can suddenly behave, visually and emotionally, like a garment with structure, movement, and a narrative of its own.
“As a designer, I see fashion and interiors as two dialects of the same language,” says Dana Malhas. “With INVERTI, textures, patterns, and geometries came together in a way that allowed each piece to be deeply personal — pieces that people will want to live with, not just look at.”
Reversible Design as a New Luxury
The eight pieces in the collection — including the Olivia Bench, Florencia Console, Catalina Side Table, Violeta Coffee Table, Luna Pouffe, Side Table, Sierra Planters, and Paloma Candle Holder — share a guiding principle: reversibility. Each object is conceived as two gestures in one; two moods, two material interpretations, two visual states that allow the owner to shift their interior according to seasons, atmospheres, or instinct.
This is not mere playfulness. It is a critique of single-use design and a proposition for longevity. In a region where interiors are often refreshed frequently, the idea of duality embedded within an object suggests a more thoughtful way of engaging with material culture.
INVERTI’s use of travertine, oak, lacquered finishes, and couture-inspired textiles creates a material tension that feels resolved yet dynamic. Deep blues and moody reds speak the language of fashion ateliers; warm oranges and matt blacks recall sculptural interior architecture. The tonal palette underscores the collection’s narrative of inversion — light and dark, soft and hard, fluid and architectural.
A Collection that Behaves Like Clothing
The brilliance of INVERTI lies in its translation of sartorial logic into furniture. The reversible nature of the pieces echoes the inside-out constructions of couture; the way a jacket lining can be as beautiful as the exterior, or the way a dress can reinvent itself when styled differently.
This conceptual transfer is elegantly executed: joinery becomes stitching; silhouettes fold as garments might; surfaces hold tension and release like fabric under structure. The collection feels curated yet instinctive, as though the designers had allowed the vocabulary of fashion to slowly dissolve into the functional language of interiors.
“INVERTI represents an important step for our studio — moving beyond the design of spaces into the design of objects,” says Monica Arango. “But the ethos remains the same: to create with purpose, to tell stories through materials, and to ensure that what we make resonates beyond aesthetics.”
Dubai’s Design Ecosystem and a New Creative Synergy
The arrival of INVERTI signals something broader happening within Dubai’s design culture. As the city becomes a hub for cross-disciplinary collaborations, the conversation is shifting toward collectible design, craft revival, and the interplay between personal style and spatial identity.
INVERTI occupies this space precisely: a sculptural, functional, emotionally charged collection that blurs boundaries while celebrating the identities of its creators. It proposes that furniture can be expressive without excess, adaptable without compromise, and luxurious without noise.
Shop the collection here.
