In today's interview, we speak with Charlotte Thorhauge Bech, the Creative Director at blomus. A brand with deep roots in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region, blomus has been a leading name in the design industry since 1921, evolving from a family-owned business in steel and brass manufacturing into a global leader in high-quality, minimalist design. We will explore blomus' rich history, the challenges of today's market, their recent showcase at Maison&Objet, and future plans to continue innovating.
Charlotte Thorhauge Bech and Willo Blome.
Can you tell me more about the history of Blomus and how it was founded?
'Run by the fourth generation of the Blome family in the town of Sundern in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, we carry the legacy of strong family allegiance and a talent for business, but blomus as a brand also tells the story of a geographical area that was once the home of a thriving steel and coal industry. The family business was established in 1921 as a manufacturer of bicycle parts, and in 1961 we branched out into gifts and design items, locally produced from copper, brass, pewter, and stainless steel. Year 2000 marked another shift in our history, when the name blomus was chosen, and the visionary design brand of today was born.'
In what markets is the brand most active and how are the market conditions right now? Especially in Germany the market seems challenging with the closure of the imm fair next year. Do you notice any difficulties at Blomus?
'Germany is of course our home market and therefore more than 50% of our turnover, but apart from that it is mainly Europe where we are most active. The US is also a growing country for us.
I think we are affected all over Europe by the economic climate in the furniture and interior business. That is how things move, it goes up and it goes down. We had some really good years during Covid, and now the market has been stalling for some time.
We keep a close dialogue with the market and try our best to navigate in these challenging times we are facing. Luckily, we have quite a wide selection in our portfolio of items, which ranges from indoor to outdoor – and that has been and still is a strength for us.'
You've recently exhibited at the Maison&Objet fair in Paris. How was this year's 30th anniversary edition?
'Maison&Objet went well, we really like the Paris fair and they do a very nice job on the inspiration and trend zones. A challenge however, has been the change in halls. Within a short time frame they have re-arranged the halls, so we have moved location a couple of times, which we are not such a big fan of. The whole fair idea has changed a lot the recent year but that is quite classic – isn't it? Nothing stays the same.'
What did you showcase at the fair?
'Since this was the fall fair, we showed our new Christmas items, designed by Theresa Rand. We also showed furniture pieces – our sofa designs from the German design duo kaschkasch and travertine tables from Sebastian Herkner. In addition we had a new bathroom line Creto, drinking glasses from Japanese designer Kazushige Miyake, new scented candles and a focus on stainless steel, which is a material we see back a lot on the design scene. We have made vases with Miyake and also a very nice table and bench line with Robin Scholtysik – so plenty of new interesting objects.'
What are the future plans for the company?
'When I started in blomus in 2017, owner Willo Blome and I made a 10-year plan. We are now 7 years into the plan and it still works… so with some small adjustments, we stick to our plan, which is to keep developing and to stay relevant in the market on the product part.
We actually were ahead of our plan of launching bigger furniture, which we did in 2023 as there was a request for it from the market, which was a very positive experience. Also, our outdoor line has been received very positively and these are also areas which we will focus on in the future. I am also very excited to launch our 2025 collection, I really think we have some very interesting products on the move.
Another big thing for us is that we are building new headquarters at the moment and we will move into our new location around May/ June next year, which we of course look forward to very much.'
More information:
blomus
[email protected]
www.blomus.com
Germany