For Louis Benech, the decisive move towards designing outdoor furniture took place in 2015. With the Water Theater Grove, Benech followed in the footsteps of Le Nôtre creating the first contemporary garden ever to be seen in the historical surroundings of Versailles. He also designed for this exceptional project a contemporary marble and concrete bench « Versailles XXI ».


It was the starting point of a new venture. Benech decided to invest himself even more in the world of gardens, by giving shape to his vision of outdoor furniture, designing collections in harmony with his style that would suit all kind of gardens. The meeting between one of today’s leading garden designers and the renowned teak specialists Royal Botania was decisive, as the latter perfectly understood the essence of Benech’s reflexion based on two key words: continuity and modernity.
This reunion between high-end professionals with converging outlooks gave birth to the Nara line designed by Louis Benech. It jointly introduces Royal Botania’s new venture, Black Label, which will unite under this trademark collections designed by celebrated talents.


As the first designer to operate under this new logo, Louis Benech performs through the Nara line a brilliant exercise in style using pure and powerful lines. Between rusticity and refinement, Nara combines the solidity of a fence and the grace of Japanese toriis. At Louis Benech’s request Royal Botania has chosen a teak of exceptional density which enables the furniture to « take root » in the ground thus preventing the pieces flying away at the slightest squall. Launched at the Salone del Mobile in 2016, the Nara line is composed of eight pieces which include an outdoor sofa, armchairs, a very unusual three footed chair, deck chairs, coffee tables, a dining table whose surface is partially covered in ceramic.


To highlight its uniqueness, each piece of the Nara line is numbered and stamped with a metal plate decorated with a four-leaf clover and showing the LB monogram : Louis Benech’s own signature. The pieces will be delivered with a personal booklet singleing out each client as a member of the Black Label club.


As the herald of this new project, Louis Benech emphasizes with the Nara line the noble characteristics of the material, whilst the strength of the design defines a new contemporary classicism.