Vitsœ
 |
|
| Limited | |
| Industry | Furniture and home interiors |
| Founded | 4 September 1959 |
| Headquarters | Royal Leamington Spa, UK |
| Website | www.vitsoe.com |
Vitsœ is a British furniture company that manufactures and retails furniture designed by Dieter Rams. Vitsœ's furniture is known as a German design classic.
Furniture salesman Niels Wiese Vitsœ (1913–1995) was introduced to Dieter Rams by fellow designer Otto Zapf. In 1959 they founded a company called Vitsœ+Zapf in Frankfurt to manufacture Rams's furniture designs. Although Rams was working for Braun at the time, Erwin and Artur Braun decided to allow him to work on side projects.
In 1969, the company was renamed 'Vitsœ' when Otto Zapf left the company.
Mark Adams became managing director of Vitsœ in 1993. Mark Adams had been importing and distributing Vitsœ furniture in Britain starting from 1985 after having had a short career as a shop boy in an interior shop in London's West End. In March 1993 Mark Adams was called to help saving Vitsœ from being closed down.
Since 1995, the company and all manufacturing have been based in England. The German company was closed before opening in Britain, which created the opportunity to re-engineer every component of the 606 Universal Shelving System in discussions with new suppliers.
In 1997 a shop was opened in New York. Later in 2004 a shop was opened in London and in 2013 a shop was opened in Munich.
In January 2013 Vitsœ became the exclusive worldwide licensee of Dieter Rams’s complete collection of original furniture designs.
Vitsœ, Zapf and Rams set out with a clear vision about their offering. As Mark Adams cited in 2012:
They wanted their furniture to last longer. They wanted to avoid built-in obsolescence. They would not pander to fashion. Their furniture would be discrete, and it would be adaptable. So that you as the customer could: start with less, add to it, rearrange it, repair it, take it with you when you move and most importantly reuse it.
In order to follow its vision, Vitsœ is focusing on a close relationship with its customers, using the Internet to sell interactively internationally. In addition Vitsœ is continually improving their products and processes. According to Mark Adams about 50% to 60% of Vitsœ's orders are coming from existing customers.
Vitsœ's main product, the 606 Universal Shelving System was designed by Dieter Rams, in 1960. It is a modular system that can be adjusted and extended to individual needs. It is part of the collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Over time Dieter Rams has made various improvements and additions to the system. The system is based on vertical posts having shelves, cabinets, panels and desks hanging onto it. The system can be wall-mounted, semi wall-mounted which has the system carry its own weight and compressed between the floor and ceiling. If used in a compressed way, shelves can be added on both sides. The system features two distinct segment widths of 65.5 cm and 90 cm and height increments of 7 cm. Due to the way of mounting, shelves can be mounted either way up and even be mounted on the side to feature as a panel for magnets. Similarly the small desk shelf can be hung either way depending on the preferred desk setup. The system also features accessories like drawer dividers and cable conduits. The system is available in off-white, black and silver and can additionally feature beech tops.
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Wikipedia