Dress you table

Offering a different, more expressive, take on cutlery, Nuflaat subverts the familiar conventions of traditional tableware, sparking our tactile curiosity. By injecting an unexpected fashion dimension, the brand gives this everyday activity almost banal—a renewed sense of attention, romanticizing daily rituals. Between a redefinition of dining, personification, fascination and a hint of discomfort, Nuflaat transforms the cuilinary art into something almost performative and has established itself as a pioneer in this field.

Playful and often surrealistic, the South Korean brand’s utilitarian and hybrid objects—created by IICOMBINED, the group behind the concept stores—move between exaggeration and illusion. These trompe-l’oeil sets, currently displayed on the 14th floor of the monumental Gentle Monster flagship in Seoul, proudly play with diners’ perception and sense of touch, effortlessly “trolling” our relationship with the table. “When setting a table with Nuflaat, the table aspires to become far more than a place to eat. By challenging established codes and introducing moments of unexpected beauty into the dining space, it becomes a stage in its own right.”

At the intersection of fashion accessories and functional design, the NAIL series, the brand’s first well-known collection, rethinks objects we believe we are already familiar with. Bold sculptural details, exaggerated volumes, and vibrant red manicures transform familiar utensils—creating tableware that can almost be worn. “Fingernails and cutlery belong to two completely different worlds, and that contrast was precisely our starting point. The nail is decorative, yet it also possesses a certain structural strength. It is deeply personal and intimately connected to the body.”

For one of its most recent releases, titled The Office the brand invites us into the corporate world with a collection that playfully references desk culture. Among the bureaucratic elements highlighted are a fork with a pencil handle and a credit-card-shaped cutlery rest.

“Cutlery is usually perceived as the most ordinary and neutral element of the table. That is precisely what attracted us. These are objects experienced directly by the body and powerful sensory triggers. The pressure of the hand, the weight, the sensation against the lips, or even the sound they produce in movement—all of this is part of the user’s experience. For us, they became the ideal medium: small in scale, yet capable of transforming the scene in a clear and lasting way.”

In some collections, objects even take on a kind of personification. This is the case with whisky glasses adorned with multiple metal chains. With a certain reflection on use, the fork-candle, designed to be planted directly into a cake, adopts a dual function: both utensil and decoration. Pushing this logic of détournement even further, the Mini set, inspired by a cracker, deliberately reverses roles. “A form of irony or tension may naturally emerge from our creations, but what interests us is not provocation itself. What matters is the subtle shift that remains—the feeling that the universe of the table has somehow changed.” •

photos : Wave Collection, Nuflaat • Nail Collection • Ring Rest Set • Haus Nowhere Seoul flagship, Nuflaat x Gentle Monster • Mini Collection • © Nuflaat