Designers are increasingly manufacturing their own limited-edition products rather than waiting for brand or gallery partnerships. Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson looks at what is driving this shift.
Many young designers are becoming entrepreneurs, using small-batch production to create objects that can be sold directly to consumers.
A visible sign of this is the “shop” page that can now be found on the websites of up-and-coming talents such as Jaclyn Pappalardo, Andu Masebo, Nicolas Erauw, Paul Coenen and Tim Teven.
Self-production offers more creative freedom and a faster turnaround, but it requires up-front investment and comes with greater risk. So why are more and more designers choosing it?
Jorge Penadés saw it as an opportunity to make his work more affordable. The Madrid-based designer just launched his first self-produced piece, a wooden stool/side table inspired by a musical instrument.
“Friends would ask me, when are you going to design something that we can afford?” he told Dezeen.
“Brands often sell through distributors who take 50 per cent of the retail price,” he explained. “If you manage to cut out the middle man, you can get a much better deal.”
For London-based Mitre and Mondays – a designer-maker trio made up of Josef Shanley-Jackson, Finn Thomson and Freya Bolton – self-production is about sustainability.
“Working at a modest scale and building a direct relationship with materials can prepare us for a post-carbon future,” said Shanley-Jackson.
“It fosters innovative approaches to manufacturing that do not conform to existing global modes of production,” he said. “It’s a bit like a chef growing their own food; they are connected to a different stage of the process, which informs how they cook.”
Jamie Wolfond believes that self-production can be just as valuable to a designer’s business as licensing designs to commercial manufacturers.
The Toronto-based designer has pieces in production with brands including Muuto and Ferm Living, but has just launched his own label, JWS Editions, focusing solely on limited editions.
“If you can get a few good products in production with the right companies, the royalties can sustain a business, but licensing is a slow process,” he said. “It takes years to see a product reach a consumer’s hands.”
“Self-production gives designers the ability to bring something to market quickly, taking valuable feedback and hopefully a bit of money from the process.”
As the founder and former owner of homeware brand Good Thing, Wolfond has more commercial experience than most. But his new venture is deliberately smaller and more agile, offering greater scope for experimentation.
JWS Editions will only offer one design for sale at a time. Once an edition sells out, it moves onto the next. Its first product is a moulded pewter trivet.
“Rather than competing with larger companies on price or practicality, I think self-production is a great opportunity to make things that are more unique, more handmade and more personal,” said Wolfond.
“When an edition is finished, we have as much or as little time as we need to come up with the next one.”
Social media plays a key role in allowing designers to get their products in front of potential customers, but these platforms have become increasingly crowded and competitive.
Another option for designers is to sell their self-produced objects through innovative retail platforms.
One example is Atelier100, a London-based initiative set up by IKEA’s parent company, Ingka Group, and fashion retailer H&M to champion local talent.
Atelier100 functions as an incubator, providing funding for local designers to develop concepts into resolved products. These are presented in a London Design Festival exhibition in the form of a pop-up design shop, with customers able to buy any of the items on show.
The format offers a middle ground between a standard retail contract and a manufacturing license. It supports product development but doesn’t require designers to give up intellectual property rights.
Mitre and Mondays was part of Atelier100’s first cohort in 2022. This saw the studio develop its self-produced Heavy Light, a table lamp made from found materials, which it now sells through London lifestyle store Earl of East.
Shanley-Jackson sees this as a model for how retail can support localised and circular production, enabling more designers to move away from big brands and global supply chains.
“When we manufacture a product, the aim is not to simply make a nice-looking lamp or chair; it is about proposing new systems of production for objects and spaces that are wholly appropriate for the times we live in,” he said.
“Our way of working is not explicitly about craft; we are out to prove that being close to the material yields designs that are less homogenous, full of character, and which celebrate their context,” he continued.
“We plan to develop these systems to prove they can work at scale, so you can have your cake and eat it.”
The growing popularity of design tourism, through events like Milan design week and Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design, is also creating more opportunities for designers to capitalise.
Alcova is one of the most popular Milan shows, but previously it was just an exhibition platform. This year’s edition saw it create a large shop, encouraging huge volumes of visitors to buy rather than just look.
The platform now has an online store, helping its exhibitors to sell their work year-round.
Elsewhere, this year’s 3 Days of Design saw the launch of Objective Studies, a digital platform for limited-edition furniture and homeware which shares its profits with designers and makers.
Founded by designer Matteo Fogale and e-commerce expert Lijana Norkaityte, Objective Studies is based on a model of product drops rather than seasonal collections.
“Drops will appear when we have something valuable to show, not simply for the sake of launching or to keep adding items to an infinite collection,” the founders told Dezeen at the launch exhibition.
“We want to discourage unnecessary production, keeping quantities limited and made-to-order to encourage conscious consumption.”
The first drop included designs from Sina Sohrab, Mario Martinez, Asca Studio and Juhl & Lange.
“We joined the industry with the belief that we can put designers and makers at the forefront,” said Fogale and Norkaityte, “and shed light on the quality and hours needed to create unique objects that will stand the test of time.”
