Gmund Paper Gives molo’s Sloped Softwall Two New Blues
Pulled out, a molo softwall stretches to 4.5 metres; pushed together, it shrinks to the thickness of a book. For its new sloped softwall, the Vancouver studio molo now has the paper made to order by Gmund, a German mill on the Mangfall River, in two shades: a translucent glacier blue and an opaque deep blue.
The partnership between molo founders Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen and Gmund was presented at ICFF in New York in May 2026, together with the sloped softwall, a new version of the studio’s freestanding paper partition. Both blues are now standard colours on the product page, in heights of 134, 183 and 244 cm. Gmund developed long-fibre, fire-retardant papers with the designers. They are FSC-certified, recyclable, bleedproof and highly lightfast.
One Side Pleated, the Other Cut Open
Like the original softwall, which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, the sloped version is made of thin layers of paper held in a flexible honeycomb structure that is 99% air. One side keeps the familiar vertical pleats, standing at 90 degrees to the floor. The other is cut at an angle, exposing the cellular interior so that light catches every cell wall. Set side by side, the sloped faces form rooms or passages that grow wider as they rise. Magnetic end panels connect several units into longer walls. The honeycomb dampens sound and screens views, so the partitions work as room dividers or as a backdrop for events and performances.
Colour Made by Light
In a pleated paper wall, colour is never flat. Light bouncing between the folds deepens the saturation and casts shadows. One paper therefore reads as a range of hues, depending on daylight and arrangement. Glacier blue is translucent enough to glow when the sun passes through it, and in direct light its loose fibres show up like small clouds. Deep blue, a reworking of molo’s earlier blue with a higher lightfastness, turns inky in the shadows of the folds. Forsythe and MacAllen took the pairing from trips along the Pacific Northwest coast by boat, where sea meets glacier-topped peaks.
A Paper Machine Running for 140 Years
Gmund makes both papers on a machine that has been in operation for more than 140 years, updated with lasers, robotics and an ozone-based water purification plant. The mill runs entirely on hydroelectricity: 75% comes from its own turbines on the river, the rest from certified plants in the region. Wastewater is cleaned to drinking-water quality, and no solid waste from the molo papers goes to landfill. Gmund received the German Sustainability Award 2026. For the mill, which has supplied paper for nearly two centuries, the collaboration is a step into furniture and interior space.
More colours are on the way. The press release names a translucent warm white and a velvety graphite as the next papers from the partnership, and molo says further shades will follow. The new blues join earlier parts of the soft collection that are also on MaterialDistrict, such as textile softwall + softblock; see also the molo and Gmund brand pages.
Sources: molo – press release / molo – an expanding partnership with Gmund / molo – sloped softwall · Images: molo; ICFF photo by Mikhail Mishin, courtesy of molo