Behind The Brand: Meet The Chic & Abstract Bongs From WEED’D

Anyone can benefit from some luxurious decor.

Even if it just serves as a treat for the eyes, many would argue that decor is what makes a house a home.

For cannabis consumers, we’re lucky enough to find design-centered pieces that double as smoking tools.

The industry’s leading design-forward bongs from Milan-based WEED’D are prime examples.

In 2022 WEED’D launched operations in Milan, Italy.

The company is a spinoff of WOOD’D and comprises a team of professionals in the Milanese creative scene. 

The brand takes pride in providing consumers with modern and thoughtfully-designed smoking objects. 

Each abstract bong was

• Produced in limited quantities
• Designed in Italy
• Created with help from Italy’s finest manufacturing companies

WEED’D has a different approach to cannabis consumption. Instead of giving users an opportunity to get blazed, the company wants to promote the following through its products;

• Relaxation and slowing down
• Taking a break from modern life’s chaos
• Changing traditional narratives around cannabis use

You can trust that each bong from WEED’D will surpass your expectations of what a bong can be. After all, you’ll never be able to find such abstract, artistic, and innovative water rigs anywhere else. 

WEED’D is led by Design Director Simone Bonanni.

Alongside him is Italian industrial designer Valerio Sommella and Milan-based studio owner Maddalena Casadei.

WEED’D wanted to create products with a personal touch.

All bongs are made of ceramic and come in pink, blue, and yellow. Each bong credits its creator’s initials through their names, SB001, VS001, and MC001.

Bonanni’s baby is SB001, a sturdy and upright piece that resembles your usual bong. Because Bonanni’s studio specializes in product design, it’s no wonder why he chose to create a sleek and minimalist bong like this beauty.

MC001 takes the idea of a modern bong to the next level. Casadei graduated from the Architecture program at the University of Ferrara, then Design at Domus Academy.

She focuses on collaborative and interactive interior design, which explains why this bottom-heavy and rounded piece could double as an abstract vase.

Last but certainly not least is VC001, created by Sommella.

He’s a studio founder with an honors degree from Politecnico di Milano. Sommella’s bong perfectly reflects his work that studies forms, materials, and technologies.

I’ve never seen such a contemporary smoking tool. The bong’s leaning, slanted, and one-piece nature is almost too good to be true. 

All bongs from WEED’D officially launched on April 20 in Milan. They’re available at weedd.it and in exclusive retailers throughout Italy, France, and Switzerland. 

It was an idea we had in mind for a couple of years, and we started working on it in the summer of 2021. As a spin-off of WOOD’D, a Milanese lifestyle brand, we share the same bold and distinctive approach to product design.

Since day one, we involved designer Simone Bonanni as product director. The main goal was to design a collection of water bong that would stand in the middle between a performance and a decorative object,
holding strong to the Italian product design heritage.

We are based in Italy, and despite cannabis use is a common practice among younger generations, there’s still a huge stigma carried by the older ones and politics.

In the past year, independent associations presented several proposals for legalization, always rejected by the constitutional court, even with a referendum where 600,000 people signed for the legalization of the plant.

As Cannabis users, we think that leaving the “battle” to associations and politics is not enough. And also, design, fashion, and more social parts need to speak up for it. That’s also why we are here.

You said it right: “yet.”

For this first drop, we decided to work on bongs because this would let the designers to better work on the decontextualization and challenge the classic shapes related to bongs while fully respecting the ritual and performance.

For the next year, we have more designers and product categories in the pipe. It’s going to be real fun.

We first involved Bonanni. Casadei and Sommella right after.

We’re friends, and we deeply respect their work. The only limitations they had were material, size, and performance. Material and size for the collection to be consistent. Performance because of respect of the rituals behind the cannabis culture.

We are a group of creatives, graphic and product designers, and entrepreneurs that think that managing a brand also has to deal with social matters.

While with WOOD’D, we focus on sustainable processes, with WEED’D, we want to normalize cannabis perception through design.

We think smoking weed is not only a chance to get high. But an opportunity to slow down, relax and take a break from the hectic pace of modern life while attempting to challenge what we said above.

We are working with stores that never have dealt with smoking accessories. We get feedback from customers saying, “Bravi folks! Unfortunately, I don’t smoke, but your bong is looking rad on my shelves”.

We are going to exhibit bongs in some of the most established and traditional venues during Milan Design Week.

I know from the US point of view, this could be not a big issue, but it is, considering we are based in Italy. Changes here can be really slow or can also not happen at all.

Absolutely. We launched last 4/20 and decided to focus on Italian and European retailers.

Right now we are stocked in some big players in fashion like One Block Down, Jelmoli, Backdoor, Frankbros, and more.

The next steps are, of course, to consolidate and grow in the EU market as well as opening the North American one. In the meantime, our web shop is operating worldwide.