Kalon Studios

Brand name : Kalon Studios – Website : kalonstudios.com / kalonstudios.de

Date of creation : Late 2007

Country of origin : USA & Germany

Countries of production : USA & Czech Republic

Name of the founders : Johannes Pauwen + Michaele Simmering
Number of employees : 3 (including Johann and Michaele)

Number of sales points :  USA, Australia & New Zealand = 46, EU = 20 – Including Ella and Elliot, Fawn and Forest, Sprout (North America), Smallable, Serendipity, Rasselfisch (Europe), Fawnandforest.com, ninetonine.es (Online)

Own e-store  :  yes. August 2010 –  kalonstudios.com

Own store :  Sadly, no.

Company statement or tag line : Design for a Sustainable Culture

What makes the brand stand out : I think we stand out because of the playful simplicity of our designs. The forms are sophisticated but very reduced. The colors are vibrant. The materials are all natural. We boil each piece down to its essence and keep everything very high quality. And then there are the ethics of sustainability, which we rigorously apply to everything we do.

A quote from a client or journalist : I wish I had the full text of the most recent article on us in Milk Deco – I haven’t seen it yet ☹  –  Otherwise : “Beautiful. Striking. Impeccably designed…Breathtaking…can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it designer furniture…oozes contemporary styling mixed with an element of fancy” Babyology October 2010 “Kalon’s Echo Toddler Bed has sculpture written all over it. It has the complex three-dimensional topography that can only come from someone who’s made a shape like the Hut-Hut Rocker… the toddler bed itself is just extraordinary. That a small, independent company is able to make and sell these things in the current economic and safety/regulatory environment is nothing short of a miracle.” DaddyTypes, May 2011

How many pieces per collection : Four

Main materials used : Sustainably harvested hard woods

Your trade show planning for next season : We’ll participate in KidsRoomZoom again for the Salone Del Mobile, Milan. We love that show.

Plans for the future : We are slowly but surely bringing the brand to doors through out the E.U. Right now, we’re really focused on finding the very best stores out there. As a rule, we work with very few stores choosing instead to build stronger relationships with a select few. We look for stores where there’s an atmosphere, a love of the products and a strong sense of curation.
Also, we have had a lot of interest in our products in Asia. In particular, the Chinese market is interested in sustainable, foreign made goods. We’re talking with various distributors there. Finally, we’d like to bring more of our collection to the E.U. and to expand our range into the home goods market.

 

photographer for the images: Kalon Studios (or me Michaele Simmering)