John Edelman, Heller Proprietor, Joins Haworth Lifestyle

MILAN — In its pursuit to realize market share, Haworth Lifestyle — residence to historic luxurious Italian design manufacturers like Poltrona Frau, Ceccotti, Cassina, Zanotta and Cappellini — has recruited considered one of American furnishings and design’s prime executives.

The firm mentioned John Edelman has joined its workforce within the new position of president, North and South America. Edelman will oversee operations of Cappellini, Cassina, Ceccotti, Poltrona Frau and Zanotta. He will report on to Haworth Lifestyle’s chief government officer Dario Rinero, who is predicated in Milan. Edelman is understood for his 30-plus years within the business, culminating in his revival of the ailing residence interiors platform Design Within Reach, which he purchased in 2010.

Edelman’s Vision

In an interview with WWD, Edelman mentioned his predominant goal at Haworth Lifestyle is to create a singular, unified technique to higher resonate with the American market, the place there may be nonetheless room to develop, in design capitals like New York City and Miami, in addition to second-tier cities like Nashville and Houston.

“My job is to develop a new strategy for the American markets encompassing all the brands with one overall strategy, versus having separate for each. That’s the exciting part of what I am going do,” he mentioned, including that the main focus might be on bettering engagement with architects, inside designers, the commerce group and customers, in a extra compelling method.

How Heller Democratized Contemporary Design

In 2022, Edelman bought and have become CEO and president of Heller, which additionally turned a part of Haworth’s orbit of manufacturers, the agency mentioned Monday. Edelman will keep on at Heller as artistic director, whereas Heller’s present chief working officer, Andrew McPhee, will assume the position of common supervisor.

Heller has a singular historical past interwoven with European up to date design. In 1971, Alan Heller found a set of stackable dinnerware designed by Massimo and Lella Vignelli and determined to carry these designs to America, launching Heller with Hellerware in 1971. In 1998, the agency expanded into furnishings with Mario Bellini’s revolutionary Bellini chair, which was awarded the distinguished Compasso d’Oro design award in 2001. Since then Heller has partnered with design luminaries together with Frank Gehry and Philippe Starck.

After Edelman took over Heller, he pioneered sustainable improvements like Worry Free Plastics expertise, which allowed Heller’s furnishings to rework into nutrient-rich soil at end-of-life. In 2014, Herman Miller Inc. bought DWR and Edelman stayed on as CEO of each DWR and Herman Miller Consumer Group earlier than departing in 2019.

Edelman’s lengthy historical past within the interiors sector goes again to his first job sorting hides at his household’s firm Edelman Leather, which his dad and mom purchased in 1981 and which finally turned a number one supplier of premium leather-based furnishings design. “I learned about the private airplane market. I learned about the high-end interiors of hotels and restaurants. I learned about all the great design firms.…I have a very rare knowledge of our industry,” he reminisced. Edelman additionally labored for Sam & Libby sneakers, which was based by his brother Sam Edelman and the latter’s spouse Libby.

“I decided I didn’t love shoes. I just never fell in love with a business that changes every season. And I knew my parents had this company that was selling something that had a reputation for being the best in the world,” he mentioned, underscoring his fascination for the eye to element that goes into making luxurious furnishings.

An avid collector of design, Edelman mentioned he has lengthy been a fan of Haworth Lifestyle’s manufacturers, that are steeped in storytelling. He lauded iconic items just like the Zanotta Sacco bean bag and Poltrona Frau’s Vanity Fair chair.

At the second, “you have a bunch of small voices versus one very large one,” he defined, including that compared to luxurious vogue, for instance, luxurious furnishings isn’t aware of as broad of a broad viewers.

Haworth Lifestyle is a part of Holland, Mich.-based Haworth Group. The Haworth Group additionally owns JANUS et Cie, Luminaire, LuxuryDwellingGroup and Tuohy. Based in Holland, Mich., the corporate has gross sales of $2.57 billion a 12 months.

Last 12 months Haworth Lifestyle revealed reorganization plans, grouping corporations beneath its umbrella into divisions. Poltrona Frau and Ceccotti CEO Nicola Coropulis was tapped to guide the Luxury Division; Luca Fuso, CEO of Cassina, Zanotta and Cappellini, was named to guide the Design Division; whereas the Industrial Division is now spearheaded by Ervino Riccobon. That contains bespoke auto companies Poltrona Frau Interiors in Motion and the U.Okay.’s KJ Ryan Ltd., which is a part of Poltrona Frau Interiors in Motion. At the time, the agency additionally mentioned that it was eyeing additional acquisitions and was desirous about increasing its market share.

Rinero expressed confidence in Edelman’s capability to translate Haworth Lifestyle’s ethos within the U.S. “I have personally known John for many years, and in that time, I’ve learned he is one of the most knowledgeable leaders in our sector in the USA.”