YLA Takes Its Sculptural Metal Furniture Collection AUDACE Outdoors

YLA introduces the Audace Outdoor Edition, an evolution of its signature Audace collection developed for exterior spaces.

Rather than creating a separate outdoor collection, YLA has retained the proportions, geometry and visual identity of Audace, adapting the elements that needed to perform differently outside. Outdoor-rated fabrics, revised powder-coated finishes and removable cushions allow the collection to move from interior settings to terraces, gardens, courtyards and poolside environments without changing its underlying design language.

The edition also opens Audace to a broader range of fabric and metal colour combinations, introducing greater flexibility for architects, designers and private clients working across residential and hospitality projects.

“We kept hearing the same question: could Audace live outside? The Outdoor Edition is our answer. It takes the same design language and extends it to terraces, gardens and outdoor spaces without changing what made Audace recognisable in the first place.” — Benoît Rondard, Founder & Managing Director, YLA

From Interior to Exterior

The starting point for the Outdoor Edition was not a new form, but a new context. Audace was originally conceived around the contrast between metal and softer upholstered elements, with open geometries, precise proportions and colour playing an important role in the collection’s identity. As the collection developed, YLA began receiving a recurring question from architects and designers: could the same pieces be used outdoors?

The answer required less of a visual redesign than a technical reconsideration.

The proportions and lines remain unchanged. Instead, YLA focused on the elements affected by exterior conditions: upholstery, surface treatment and the practical relationship between the furniture and its environment.

“We didn’t need to reinvent Audace to take it outside. We kept the geometry and lines exactly as they were. What changed were the elements that needed to perform differently: the fabric is outdoor-rated, and the powder coating has been adapted for exposure to sun and rain. The design remains Audace; the performance around it has evolved.” — Rémi Damilleville, Designer, YLA

Adapted for Outdoor Use

The shift outdoors led YLA to reconsider the material specifications of the collection while maintaining its existing visual character. The upholstery has been selected for exterior environments, with fabrics developed to respond to sunlight, moisture and everyday use. Water-repellent, stain-resistant and mould-resistant properties support use in open-air settings, while colour retention under prolonged sun exposure was an important consideration in the selection process.

The metal finishes have also been adapted for outdoor exposure, with the powder coating reconsidered for conditions including sun, rain and humidity.

For the upholstered pieces, the cushions remain integrated into the visual composition of Audace but can be removed when required for cleaning or storage. The intervention is intentionally discreet: the objective was to adapt the collection technically without giving it the heavier or more visibly functional language often associated with outdoor furniture.

A Broader Palette

Colour has been central to Audace from the beginning, used not as decoration but as part of the relationship between metal, form and surrounding space.

With the Outdoor Edition, that approach becomes more flexible.

A broader selection of outdoor fabrics and powder-coated metal finishes allows combinations to be developed according to the architecture and character of each project. Rather than introducing a single predetermined outdoor palette, YLA has approached colour as an adaptable layer within the collection.

The result allows the same Audace geometry to take on different expressions across a private terrace, a garden, a restaurant courtyard or a hospitality setting, while remaining immediately recognisable as part of the same collection.

Designed and Made in Dubai

The Audace Outdoor Edition is designed and manufactured in Dubai through YLA’s integrated production process, bringing design development, engineering, metal fabrication, powder coating, assembly and quality control into close proximity.

That local context has particular relevance for a collection designed for outdoor use.

In the UAE, exterior furniture is exposed to intense sunlight, high temperatures and humidity for extended periods of the year. These conditions informed the development of the edition and the decisions made around materials and finishes.

“We work with metal, and we live in the UAE — a place where summer tests every material to its limit. When it came time to develop the Outdoor Edition, we didn’t have to imagine what heat, sun and humidity would mean for the furniture. That experience shaped the choices we made.” — Benoît Rondard

Local manufacturing also enables YLA to retain direct oversight of the transition from design to production, while working closely with architects, interior designers and hospitality partners across the region.

One Collection, Different Contexts

The Audace Outdoor Edition does not introduce a new visual language for YLA. Instead, it expands the context in which an existing one can exist.

The same structure, proportions and design principles move between interior and exterior settings, creating continuity across spaces that are increasingly conceived as connected rather than separate.

For YLA, the Outdoor Edition represents an extension of Audace rather than a departure from it: the same collection, reconsidered around the material and environmental demands of life outside.