In the age of the experience economy, furniture companies are inviting people to sleep in their curated world.
By Jonna Dagliden Hunt
A SMALL STEEL structure deep in the Swedish woods and a crane high above the Nordhavn sea in Copenhagen – neither of these bring to mind the words ‘luxury hotel’. And yet that’s exactly what they are, opened by or in collaboration with furniture producers Vipp and Menu respectively. Instead of walking into traditional shops and showrooms, customers get the chance to live with the products, to experience them, touch them and photograph them in a highly curated environment.
Over the past few years a number of companies have discovered the possibilities of creating liveable showrooms rather than traditional shops. Japanese retailer Muji has opened its fourth hotel in China (with a fifth due in Tokyo next year), American furniture firm West Elm has seven hotels across the US, and home furnishing company Restoration Hardware will soon be opening a boutique hotel in New York.
The development is part of a huge shift within retail and general consumption towards an experience economy, says Johan Åkesson, senior trend analyst at innovation agency Sprillo in Stockholm. “It is very much driven by an evolved perception of what builds individual status,” he says. “What used to be top priority – objects, gadgets, bling-bling and show-off outfits – has been replaced by experiences that build people’s status.”
The millennial generation, born in the early 1980s, has a completely different view of luxury consumption than their parents. “The fact that more and more people book an apartment on Airbnb rather than an impersonal hotel room, or look for unique places like a retreat in the wilderness, are signs of the current development,” says Peter Firth, trend analyst at The Future Laboratory in London.
Deep in the woods, by Lake Immeln in the south of Sweden, stands Shelter, a steel and glass structure with floor-to-ceiling windows facing out to the surrounding trees and water. People come here to check out from everyday life, gaze at the lake, listen to the sounds of the forest and dine by the calming crackle of the fireplace. Shelter is the first hotel by Danish design firm Vipp – known for its waste bins and, more recent
