Dutch design brand Moooi is on course for world domination, and its next stop is London. Having made a low-key arrival into the UK market in 2010 with the introduction of an appointment-only showroom, next week will see Moooi putting down permanent roots in the British capital with the opening of a centrally-located brand store.
‘This opening is a little bit of a milestone for us,’ says Moooi CEO Robin Bevers of the new outpost, which joins Moooi’s existing brand stores in Amsterdam, New York and soon Tokyo - which opens straight after London on 17 June. ‘It’s a real store where we will have a different kind of clientele than we had in our showroom. For us, it’s about being at home in London. We were there, but we were a guest and now we have a home in the heart of London with a full team.’
Located on Great Titchfield Street, just a stone’s throw from Oxford Circus, the showroom will offer London customers a slice of Moooi’s impressive design theatrics, which are put on display each year at the Dutch brand’s spectacular Salone del Mobile showcase in Milan. ‘We don’t want to be a global retailer, not for now, but we do want to have that interaction with the end user,’ explains Bevers, with Marcel Wanders, Moooi’s founder and art director, adding, ‘the real connection to a client is super important for us. I do consider London the capital of Europe at the moment. It’s an important location with a lot of great design studios that we want to connect with.’
In store, customers will find the 15-year-old brand’s classic pieces alongside its latest printed carpets fresh from their April unveiling in Milan. Among 2016’s new furniture and lighting introductions are showstoppers by British designers such as Paul Cocksedge and Ross Lovegrove as well as London-based architect and designer Umut Yamac.
‘Of course we want to make sure that our British designers get great visibility as we’re very proud of them,’ says Wanders. ‘Over time, we will learn the unique side of the London audience and there will be more differentiation between the different showrooms.’ As a starting point for the new London-look, a limited edition of Moooi’s Lolita lamp by Nika Zupanc has been specially produced in a metallic shade of pink that the brand have coined ‘London Rosé’ – a fitting tribute to its new home from home.
