Danish metalware brand Georg Jensen has shaken off its “dusty” popularity and now has high-profile designers queuing up to collaborate on items, in accordance to imaginative director and CEO David Chu (+ slideshow).
Chu took the reins of the 111-yr-previous luxury style organization 3 many years ago and right away set about revamping its image.
“The last 15 or 20 years hadn’t completed a whole lot about reinventing the item or repositioning the brand,” mentioned Chu, whose largely fashion-targeted background involves setting up clothing brand Nautica in 1983.
David Chu
“Before I received involved with this firm I talked to lots of designers who asked, ‘what took place to the brand?’,” he told Dezeen. “It was a small dusty.”
In response, Chu has reinvigorated Georg Jensen’s history of artistic partnerships. Considering that he joined, the brand has collaborated with names which includes Aldo Bakker, Scholten & Baijings, and Marc Newson – who developed a manufactured-to-purchase silver and mammoth-tusk tea set. A partnership with a well-acknowledged architect will also be exposed up coming year.
“We are probably a designer’s brand,” mentioned Chu. “It truly is a great place to be in. It’s like becoming the most gorgeous woman at the get together: you get the most selection.”
Dutch designer Aldo Bakker designed a assortment of four tableware goods for Georg Jensen in 2014
Georg Jensen was founded in 1904 by a Danish silversmith of the identical name, who grew to become known for his use of decorative motifs derived from nature.
Jensen established the brand’s historical past of creative partnerships with major designers, commencing with Danish painter and designer Johan Rohde.
The company went on to collaborate with names including Harald Nielsen, Arne Jacobsen and Verner Panton. Considerably of Jensen’s archive of goods reflect changing layout movements of the times, such as Art Deco and Minimalism.
“I think what designers like about the brand is that they have an eye a minor bit ahead of the instances,” said Chu.
In 2013, Dutch studio Scholten & Baijings developed a silver serving set for tea and cake for the Danish brand
The Taiwanese American designer studied trend in New York prior to launching and promoting Nautica, and setting up his very own bespoke line of fits and sportswear collection LINCS by David Chu.
In 2012 he acquired Georg Jensen with Bahrain-based investment financial institution Investcorp for \$140 million (£92 million).
“My aim is to restart the curiosity of the layout local community and then we’ll trickle down to the typical individuals,” he advised Dezeen.
Related story: Marc Newson styles £82,000 silver tea set with mammoth-ivory handles for Georg Jensen
An additional element of the company’s development is a renewed concentrate on a younger group of buyers.
“Passion for iconic layout is not dictated by age, and in my time at Georg Jensen, I’ve noticed that a lot of younger folks really like the brand, and so I want to make it more accessible for them,” mentioned Chu.
This has prompted the move of Georg Jensen’s flagship London shop from Bond Street to Mount Street. The region, which dates back to the 1700s, underwent substantial improvement operates in 2010 by residence business Grosvenor, which incorporated refurbishing the nearby Connaught Hotel.
Georg Jensen now shares the region with 47 other retail spaces, which includes fellow luxury brands Balenciaga, Celine, Lanvin and Solange Azagury-Patridge.
Marc Newson produced a limited-edition silver tea support with mammoth-ivory handles earlier this yr
“I believe Grosvenor did an outstanding job repositioning this region and then receiving only the proper manufacturers in here,” mentioned Chu.
“The not so-named super luxury manufacturers, but brand names that have relevancy on culture, on design, on design,” he added. “It is actually about perhaps the minor bit of the awesome issue.”
Even so whilst London is an crucial location for the brand – described by Chu as “the hub for international tourism” – he’s also recognized China as a potential new marketplace.
“I think the Chinese customer has a lot of respect for progressive design, and that our aesthetic will resonate with them,” he stated.
“China is an important industry for any global organization, and so it felt like the appropriate time to showcase our complete offerings.”
Andreas Engesvik’s 2015 assortment for Georg Jensen involves tablecloths, runners and location mats
“Historically, Beijing has been a design and style capital, which created it the excellent spot to introduce our brand. Recently, there has been a whole lot of design information and momentum in Beijing, and it felt appropriate to enter now,” he additional.
The company’s initial steps into the nation included the opening of the Georg Jensen Hus in Beijing on 3 November – a concept store meant to introduce the two Nordic design and meals to the city.
Occupying a standard courtyard house in Beijing’s Houhai neighbourhood, the two-story shop has product showrooms as effectively as a courtyard space, garden and a restaurant serving Nordic cuisine.
“It really is between their design and style notion and their meals notion,” said Chu “It truly is a way to recreate that Danish way of life design and style. So I stated hey we ought to do a notion with a cafe so people can come and get pleasure from that small bit of Copenhagen life style, and also see our design and style.”
The not too long ago opened Georg Jensen Hus in Beijing has item showrooms as well as a courtyard space, backyard and a restaurant
Chu has also launched new jewellery and observe collections, incorporating gold and valuable stones to present Jensen items, and updating homeware pieces from the archive.
“My objective is discovering the right combination to proceed that tradition, and producing sure that we do. Searching back, I often say to my team fast forward 100 years and searching back, what did these guys do in 2010 or 2015?”
