One day while walking down Market Street, I came across White Furniture. We were able to stop by yesterday for a longer linger and to snap some pictures.
Shops that carry design knock-offs are pretty common here in San Francisco -- the quality of the pieces themselves being the only real difference. Everyone has a fake Eames or Nelson this-or-that... and White does too. However, they have a good number of original-esque pieces to augment the line -- which is great to see -- but a few others which sadden me a bit.
(More pictures after the jump.)
Many of these shops carry copies from long-dead designers or pieces that have fallen out of original production. In this case, perhaps, the design-copyright concern is less. However, my own biggest concern here is that some of the copies are from still-living designers -- specifically the barstool copied from Semigood design.
The original Semigood Cantilever stool is still produced by hand in Seattle by the folks who designed it (less than 10 years ago). The construction of the original is ingenious and the materials are top-notch and FSC certified (and made by American hands). The copy, however, is none of these and I'd actually be concerned with safety while sitting in it... not to mention the gross lack of ethics in copying a still-in-production piece of furniture.
On the plus side, what separates it from the typical knock-off shop -- and makes it unique -- were the original pieces. The shop is run by Enis (rhymes with tennis) who is from Turkey and a good bit of the influences from their original pieces seem of Mediterranean origin -- some gold leafing and inlay/enamel motifs, specifically. They seem to have a penchant for what they call "organic modernism" and much of the shop's decor and other flavors of their original pieces are derivative of this...
Whatever the mix, we're in love with at least a few of these more original pieces -- the walnut rocker (Ottawa/$350) and low walnut lounge chair (Haita/$195), specifically. However, I still can't get the bitter taste of the Semigood copy out of my mouth, so we'll hold off on purchasing anything from them until they decide to drop the copied stool (and a few other pieces) from their lines -- I'd encourage others to do the same and communicate to White that they need to step up their game a bit on the ethics side.
If you're on Market Street (near Van Ness), it's worth stopping by if only to check out the above for yourself. Just don't sit on the stool -- you might regret it when it breaks due to poor craftsmanship. Check out their assortment (and prices) online at: whiteonwhite.com
5-stars for being run by a nice guy, 1-star for carrying knock-offs, negative-1 stars for carrying copies by still-living designers, 5-stars for having some nice semi-original pieces at a decent price point and 3 stars for having these original pieces being of decent quality and at a good price point... what does that average out to? 2-stars, perhaps.
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