The output of Tokyo-based designer Fumie Shibata of Studio S stretches over 15 years and includes everything from leather school bags and suitcases to crystal paper weights, bamboo-shaped glass lighting and even capsule hotels – many presented in the perceptively named monograph Forms within Forms.
For her latest creation for Italian company Flexform, she has designed a shelf within a mirror – to be presented at Salone del Mobile 2026 – showcasing her distinctive soft, yet very precise shapes. Its name, ‘Soreto’ means ‘and also’ or ‘in addition to that’, reflecting both its multipurpose function, and its connection to the rest of the interiors, or what the designer calls a ‘boundary blur’.
‘A mirror is, by nature, a planar object that belongs to the wall. It reflects space, yet rarely participates in it,’ explains Shibata. ‘With this design, we sought to gently shift that relationship: rather than ending the edge as a simple frame, it is released into a horizontal plane – a shelf – allowing the mirror to quietly step out from the wall into the room.
‘This is not merely an addition of function, but the insertion of another layer onto the wall – blurring boundaries while introducing rhythm into space. A mirror for daily rituals, and also… a shelf that receives objects. A device that reflects space, and also… furniture that gives it depth.’
Softly connecting plane and volume, wall and furniture, ‘Soreto’ is made of curved sheet metal clad in cowhide available in all the colours of the Flexform collection. Designed to furnish spaces including hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms, it comes in various sizes, and is part of a new family of accessories comprising benches and clothes stands.
Shibata’s other designs for Flexform include ‘Eri’, an enveloping armchair inspired by elegantly uplifted jacket lapels, and ‘Enn’, a circular table with a conical base named after a Japanese word for connection and harmony.