Fashion4Home Furniture Launches in U.S.

Social Furniture — It’s Here!

Yesterday marked the U.S. launch of Berlin, Germany’s Fashion4Home, and the stateside beginning of “social furniture.”

One of Fashion4Home’s exclusive designers, Logan Komorowski, with a model from his line of furniture from sustainable bamboo.

Sure, Fashion4Home is an online-only furniture retailer that says it offers products at “50-70% less than traditional retail prices,” but that’s not the coolest thing about it.

Here it is: We the people have a say in what Fashion4Home produces.

We are on the design team.

Through Fashion4Home’s Voting area, we help it decide which designs to manufacture, which collections should be extended, and which designers should be treasured.

Crowdsourcing comes home.

According to Fashion4Home, “Shoppers vote and comment on product sketches from world-renowned furniture designers…This creates an open innovation environment for…furniture designers to share their ideas directly with consumers, gain immediate feedback and speed up product design.”

Fashion4Home.com claims to be the world’s first hub for furniture designers and consumers to interact directly. Click to vote for those products you want Fashion4Home to produce, and add your comment like:

“Hey nice chair, but how about you swap the white and black colors, and go with a satin finished base.”

Today 27 products are available for voting, including contemporary furntiture and artwork. More are planned soon.

I came across Fashion4Home last fall when it first launched in Europe and I thought, ‘This is going to be a hit–can’t wait ’till it comes here.’

The wait is over.

First social media, now social furniture. What do you think will be next?

5 Comments for “Fashion4Home Furniture Launches in U.S.”

It makes sense that this would be the next step in the online revolution that is happening to business.

Jane Ann Maxwell said | January 31st, 2010 at 3:37 am

Hi Jane Ann,

I find it fascinating, don’t you? Now the “crowd” can help design furniture, and at other sites you can create your own fabric designs. Some designers are offering online consultation services and even remote direction for redecorating rooms. Surely it won’t replace in-person design and decorating services, but it’s amazing where this connectivity has taken us.

Thanks for your visit!
–Kathy

Kathy said | February 1st, 2010 at 3:20 pm

Hi guys,

I believe it’s just a marketing tool. They have their manufacturers in China and sell what they find in the factories. Crowdsourcing is cool and makes sense to reduce overhead, but the designs are pre-selected anyways since they have to know whether they can be manufactured or not. On-demand manufacturing has been around for years. Nobody ever really liked it due to long lead times, though.
Offering a sustainable line which is shipped from China – halfway around the world (!!!) – can’t seriously be called sustainable?!

Good luck,
Charles

Charles said | February 2nd, 2010 at 7:34 am

Hi Charles,

You make good points, and I need to be more careful when referring to a product vs. the material it is produced from, as being sustainable. It would be great if all our decisions could be planet-friendly on all fronts. I’m learning that being eco-friendly is complex–with source and locality of production an important part of the picture. I recently had a great conversation about this issue with designer Kelly Van Patter.

Charles, you make me want to learn more about two things:
1) Is there a company in the U.S. making furniture from locally-grown bamboo?
2) Who if anyone, in your opinion, is doing true crowdsourcing in the home furnishings industry?

Thanks for stopping in,
–Kathy

Kathy said | February 4th, 2010 at 9:18 am

Dear Kathy,

Thank you for your enthusiasm and kind words. We really appreciate people like you spreading the word. Please don’t hesitate to share your comments and thoughts with us in the future.

Thanks,

Your fashion4home.com team

Fashion4home said | February 8th, 2010 at 5:24 pm