Made in China

In issue 11, we got to know then start-up brand ZaoZuo, a furniture producer intent on changing perceptions of ‘Made in China’

Less than 20 months since its launch in April 2015, furniture start-up ZaoZuo has already reached its first targets: it has introduced an international designer brand from China to the domestic market and expanded from an online business to one with a physical presence by opening stores in Beijing and Shanghai. The company, whose name translates to ‘design and production’, was founded by Chinese entrepreneur Shu Wei with a strong creative department headed by the highly sought-after Italian designer Luca Nichetto.

Until now, China has been known for its cheap exports and ultra-luxury crafts; what has been missing is good-quality, affordable items for the nation's rapidly growing middle classes. The standard for manufacturing has been there for years, but ZaoZuo is among the first forward-thinking businesses to take advantage of imported talent and experience to fill the gap in the market.

‘I truly believe that design as we know it would not be like this if, in the beginning — in the fifties in Europe or America — people were not producing things for the middle classes; it was the middle classes that really helped the development of design,’ says Nichetto. When Shu first approached him, he realised he now had a chance to enter a completely new market for which he wants to ‘create a collection that is original, well designed and at a truly affordable price’, which could hardly be realised in Europe.

To date, ZaoZuo has a team of 150 people in its Beijing headquarters and area offices, working with more than 50 factories across the country, each with its own speciality in terms of materials and techniques. The brand's huge range includes upholstered and wooden furniture, lighting, fabrics, metal and glassware. New pieces by Note Design Studio from Sweden, Constance Guisset Studio from France and Richard Hutten from The Netherlands were launched during Beijing Design Week in September and more than 40 new products are in the pipeline by designers such as Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance (France), Claesson Koivisto Rune (Sweden), Philippe Malouin (UK) and Sebastian Herkner (Germany).

Large production runs in China can benefit from economies of scale, but the digital retail environment in China and its direct communication with its audience is also key to the success of the business: designs will first be published online, where viewers will be asked to vote for the models and the colours they like best. ZaoZuo will also suggest styled settings for different living situations and the set of products can be purchased at a discounted price, and even be paid for in instalments. The two-seater Pebble Sofa by Swedish studio Form Us With Love, for example, is priced from below US$500, and it takes as little as US$1,500 to fill a bedroom with designer pieces.

‘My goal is to convince the team that there is no “Chinese” market and we don’t need to think only in the “Chinese” way, because what Chinese people need is exactly what we need in Europe and anywhere else in the world — nice things at a nice price,’ says Nichetto. Stores are due to open in Chengdu and Shenzhen early next year, soon to be followed by launches in the US and Europe. ‘The big effort for me is to demonstrate that ZaoZuo can really be one of the first companies writing the direction for the Chinese community, and to be the voice of China's design in the international community,’ says Nichetto. ‘It is ambitious, but it’s also true.’

Text / Yoko Choy
Images / Courtesy of ZaoZuo