Fast furniture is a massive problem in the design industry. Low-quality, toxic materials and the constant pressure to keep up with changing trends lead to over 12 million tons of furniture being disposed of in the U.S. alone each year. With PEEL, the PROWL team is exploring ways of combating fast furniture from within by designing with healthier materials and incorporating an accessible end-of-life plan from the beginning of the design process. Inspired by hemp stock and how different parts of the plant are removed to be harvested for reuse, PEEL is an elevated version of the classic stacking chair that marries utility with responsibility. It serves its purpose, but only for as long as it needs to.

A lesser-known power crop with enormous benefits, hemp is celebrated in every component of the PEEL chair. PEEL’s structural frame is made out of a hemp-based bioplastic that is manufactured just like any conventional plastic but can be industrially composted. Developed by M4 Factory, the material combines hemp bast fiber and hurd—byproducts of industrial hemp processing that are typically wasted—with biopolymers.  The chair is topped off with a completely novel hemp foam cushion that is encased in hemp bioleather, which was developed with NYC-based material innovators Studio Veratate.

PEEL debuted at Milan Design Week 2023 at Alcova in an exhibition titled Expect Death in which visitors were immersed in the hemp material story and led through an abstract interpretation of the chair’s manufacturing process in an animation by DADA PROJECTS.

The PEEL Chair is available to license. Professional Photography by Noah Webb.