VZOR

About VZOR

VZOR aims at creating a collection based on the timeless icons of Polish midcentury furniture which in the future shall include designs of prominent contemporary creators.

The brand concept represents a coherent model of industrialization of the Polish valuable and timeless historic designs that have not been marketed due to political and socio-economic reasons.

The brand debuted in June 2012, introducing into the market the iconic Roman Modzelewski armchair (RM58) which original piece is in the permanent collection of Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Quote

“What used to be reserved for a few sophisticated global brands with a long tradition, like Classicon or Vitra, has unexpectedly become feasible on our /Polish/ home ground (…) The seemingly impossible task of finding a balance between rigorous fidelity to the original piece and the criteria for creating a genuinely contemporary, noble product, has been successfully achieved.”

About RM58

RM58 is a modern version of the iconic armchair designed by Roman Modzelewski. Handmade in 1958 it was one of the earliest Polish designs of polyester-glass laminate furniture, but its innovation was based not only on the materials used in its production. The fully-closed organic form of the seat had no counterpart from that time, either in Poland or in the world.

One of the earliest preserved prototypes (white) has been purchased for the permanent design collection by Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The production of the RM58 by VZOR using new material and technologies (roto-moulding) allowed to avoid constraints related to craft manufacturing. The precisely developed form constitutes a 100% replica of the original.

More about brand

Building its own, strong and recognisable brand is an element thanks to which Vzór stands out from among most furniture companies in Poland, which constitutes the foundation of its development and which is essential for entering and maintaining continued presence in the market segment where the company found its place and want to develop its business (the segment is described further in the application) and for its long-term presence on foreign markets. In this context, along with creation of the product offer and building a narrative around Roman Modzelewski’s designs, from the very beginning of our activity we have attached great importance to creating an image of VZÓR as a Polish, professional brand, using Polish material heritage and offering products with contract parameters, designed by Polish designers and manufactured in Poland using the globally appreciated potential of the Polish furniture sector and creative industries.

The attractiveness of VZÓR products, the history of their designers and the narrative built around the brand are best confirmed by numerous awards and industry rewards, as well as invitations to design festivals and cultural events in Poland and abroad.

National awards and prizes include the titles of the Finalist of MocArty RMF Classic 2011 competition, the Finalist of the Good Design 2013 competition organised by the Institute of Industrial Design, Must Have 2013 and 2015 distinctions awarded by the Łódź Design Festival, the PWK Competitive Poland award granted by the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland and the Poznań International Fair.

From among foreign awards, the win in the furniture category in the WIN Awards 2013 of the international industry magazine World Interior News from London is of key importance, as it confirms the international potential of the brand and its products. The international judging panel comprising representatives of the industry press, creative industries, furniture sector, designers and art and design schools, chaired by Sir Terence Conran, the creator of the Habitat brand and the founder of the Design Museum in London, awarded VZÓR for its holistic concept of the brand and for industrial implementation of the RM58 armchair in line with its principles and objectives.

The potential of the VZÓR brand is further confirmed by our intensive cooperation with national and regional public institutions at the international forum, which generates synergy conducive to building a modern image of our country that is attractive to foreign audiences. In this context, it is worth mentioning VZÓR’s cooperation in numerous promotional events, fairs and cultural events with such institutions as the Łódzkie Voivodeship Marshal’s Office, the City of Łódź, the Capital City of Warsaw, the National Museum in Warsaw, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, the offices of the Commercial Counsellor in Sofia and Rome and the Polish Institute in Berlin.

Within the framework of cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, our company created a collection of miniature models of furniture designed by Roman Modzelewski which are used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy / the Ministry of Economic Development, embassies and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as quality gits for VIPs, promoting the design potential of our country abroad.

Thanks to cooperation with those institutions, VZÓR could present its products at numerous foreign events and design festivals in, among others, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Milan, Berlin, London, Hong Kong, New York, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Cologne.

The brand products, due to their historical and timeless nature, unique design and the fact that they are manufactured in the European Union and using modern technologies and materials, are classified into a higher market segment, near luxury and gallery furniture. At the same time, due to contemporary redesign and series production technologies, the products can be easily and affordably transported and offer an attractive ratio of quality and value to price. Moreover, thanks to using industrial manufacturing technologies (the company has large production capacity providing solid foundations for dynamic foreign expansion, as it enables the company to offer its products on numerous foreign markets at the same time and to service even large developer projects), the products of the brand are not luxury or craft products. All these parameters place the brand and its products in a precisely delimited segment of such international brands as Vitra, Fritz Hansen, Knoll, Walter Knoll, Hermann Miller and Classicon which share common product characteristics, similar marketing, distribution channels and target groups. Those companies offer products with high design value, often historical, and representing mainly the mid century design (1950s and 1960s) which, thanks to their history, unique design and uniqueness due to achievements and status of their designers, are status symbols and are used by interior designers, architects and developers in prestigious “designer” projects. In addition, the furniture is typically chosen by the middle class aged 30+ in developed societies, who, after fulfilling their first material and lifestyle needs and achieving a stable life and professional status, begin to redesign their space and search for items (paintings, drawings, furniture) reflecting their status and aspirations. The products of the brands belonging to the aforementioned segment of the sector are distributed through multibrand showrooms (furniture stores) located in prestigious locations in medium-sized and large cities. The stores act as exhibition venues dedicated to individual customers and (primarily) as the place of contact with cooperating architects and interior designers. At the same time, they play an active role in sales by participating in tenders and competitions for comprehensive furnishing of public spaces (offices, shopping malls) in their area. They also play an important role in setting trends and fashion. It is worth mentioning that products of the Vzór brand, in particular the RM58 armchair, are, apart from Zieta brand products, the only Polish products in such stores around the world and are there as a result of conscious and well-though out decisions of persons responsible for selecting the products they offer. Those persons (so called “buyers’) follow the publications in prestigious international lifestyle and design magazines and participate in design fairs and festivals, searching for current trends, extraordinary stories, brands and products. Thanks to participation of Vzór in numerous design festivals abroad and to its unique offer, the brand enjoys the interest of international media and press which allowed it to attract the first showroom representatives and the first prestigious distributors (among others in London, Berlin, Paris, Italy and Dubai). The products of the brand were also used by international architecture studios in prestigious office and commercial investment projects in South Korea, Israel, the UAE and the USA. They constitute important points for internationalisation of the brand, confirming the company’s potential in this regard. However, to make a significant qualitative leap in its development, the brand has to be presented at the key fairs visited by buyers searching for brands for distribution and making specific purchase decisions. In the market segment where the brand found some place, the participation in international fairs is the main internationalisation instrument.

The activity of the Vzór brand complies with several currently dominating trends in design, and in particular in the market segment where it operates. The trends include redefinition of habits and typical consumer choices by design consumers: searching for locality, individuality and authenticity, looking for new niche projects and their underlying histories, popularity of design from developing countries, and in particular popularity of vintage and retro products. The products offered by the brand have a similar and often higher quality than products of their competitors (since its competitors increasingly often relocate their production to China). They are also more attractive in terms of prices (30% below the benchmark on average). All those elements ensure a good ratio of quality and value to price. The fact that the brand offer relatively short delivery times is also important. Thanks to series production technologies, efficient network of subcontractors and collaborators, logistic support of the company’s sectoral investor and location of its production facilities in Poland, the brand is able to deliver even large lots of products within 4 weeks, while the market standard is 6 to 8 weeks.