JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 70

furniture

Today, we are still only a small, budding
brand name with a product under development, so we must stay humble. But humility
doesn't mean a lack of ambition. We already
have high-level collaborators in our small
team, and other talented people will be joining us to convert our momentary weaknesses
into strengths.
JCM: What are your goals in terms of production, and which markets are you targeting?
The Revology chair will integrate materials and
technologies that have never been used in the
furniture industry

only authentic materials and textures. We are
trying to develop a chair with natural beauty,
authentic yet futuristic, and which will be a
reference for decades. However, we prefer
a reasoned bio-approach rather than an
inflexible one. We will use as many bio-based
and bio-sourced materials as possible for
the Revology chair, and if we are unable to
do that for some parts of it, we will explain
clearly why.
But let's be real, few consumers will buy a
premium design chair uniquely because it
is bio-based. People who acquire Revology
chairs will do so above all because they are
moved by its aesthetic design, though the fact
that it is made with biomaterials will certainly
provide a further incentive.
JCM: Have you already taken care of the technical, material and process aspects?

A. G.: Our priority was to deal with the

most difficult aspects first. There are still
things that need to be solved, but that is
normal, as our start-up is still very young.
I think we can say that no other chair or
brand in the world will have required as
much investment and audacity, given the
challenges we face and the goals we have set.
And I am convinced that only a newcomer
in the sector - and not a leading company -
can succeed in this type of challenge. Often,
history repeats itself: the Dyson, Tesla and
Sonos brands were able to shake up their
industries because they were combative
newcomers without the constraints of a
major established brand. The technical solutions we lack so far will be solved with time,
money and talent, and we are trying to have
all three - but especially talent.

A. G.: We are targeting the dining room in
sophisticated homes and apartments, for a
broad range of buyers from 30 to 60 years of
age, in Europe, the USA, Japan, Australasia.
It is too early to attach any figures to this
goal. We do think that we have the means to
become a credible player in the upscale chair
market worldwide, though.
Here are some interesting figures: the number of existing bistro chairs is estimated at
upwards of 100 million in Europe alone, and
there are no doubt at least 200 million worldwide. Also, the average person has a single
smartphone that they use a bit more than
two hours per day, while they have ten chairs
on which they sit eight hours per day... you
get the idea of the size of the market.
Our customers will mostly be urban. Twenty
years ago, people displayed their social status
or personality with their car, but in cities it is
now more difficult to have a fancy car, so they
have shifted their spending to furniture and
interior decorating. This is a budget that has
practically doubled in ten years. Dining room
chairs are just as essential an element in successful interior decoration as a sofa, and often
denote an aspect of one's identity.
JCM: Can you tell us more about your Revology business model?

A. G.: Our business model will be a

revolution in the field of design furniture. If
it works, I think it will be talked and written
about a lot. We don't want to go into any
further detail for now. But at this stage, we
can announce that in terms of distribution,
we are going to do things completely differently from conventional brands, designers
and producers, and eCommerce. There will
be no distributor, importer, shops, or any
other intermediary, and doing eCommerce
as it is currently practised in the furniture

70 jec composites magazine / No103 March 2016

business is out of the question.
Due to our business model and the elimination of margin add-ons, we will be able to
offer consumers a Revology chair that will
probably cost 5-6 times more to produce
than existing upscale chairs, but for a similar
retail price. Consumers will understand that
they are paying for noble materials, spearhead technologies, and an identifiable design,
but not for the distribution channels and
intermediaries.
JCM: Are you already considering other products, or do you want to specialize in these
chairs?

A. G.: We've thought about it, but want to
stay focused. We are putting all our energy
into the biocomposite bistro chair, and then
when we have established our product,
brand and its business model, it will be time
to think about launching other products.
And if we do, it will be consistent with our
identity and to revamp other iconic objects,
not necessarily in furniture.
JCM: What results are you expecting from
this first presentation of the Revology Concept
Chair at JEC World, and when are you planning
the commercial launch?

A. G.: It is a full-scale test. We are present-

ing the chair design, our company and our
brand messaging for the first time. Just as an
auto builder expects a market response from
its concept car, we are expecting a response
from consumers and the media to our
presentation. Since it is a concept chair, there
will be differences between the chair that is
presented and the one that will be marketed,
in particular so that we can take consumer
opinion into account. If the public reacts as
we hope, we will launch industrialization
rapidly. Then we will need 12 to 18 months
to adjust the design, qualify the product,
invest further, and launch the production
lines. Major players in industrial production
and logistics will join us in due course.
The risk of failure is still high, as it is always
possible we've missed something about what
the public expects. But maybe the enthusiasm will be there, and in that case, Revology's
development could be rapid and even go
viral. n
More information:
www.revology.co.nz

http://www.revology.co.nz

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016