Brand Overview
Focused on the design philosophy that "good design doesn't have to be expensive," the brand name Bodum has become synonymous with simple, affordable, elegantly-designed housewares. Founded in Copenhagen in 1944, the company is now recognized as a global design leader,operating in 17 countries with over 50 Bodum stores.
Brand History
Bodum was founded in 1944 by Peter Bodum in Copenhagen, Denmark, as a retailer of housewares from Danish manufacturers. The business was later expanded to include glassware from Easter Europe. By the 1950s, Bodum began developing its own products, collaborating with architects and industrial and graphic designers. These collaborations evolved into Bodum developing its own design department, which would come to feature an in-house team of product designers, engineers, graphic designers, and architects. Eventually, Bodum would design, develop, and advertise its own products in-house.
In 1958, Bodum introduced its first signature product to the retail market, the Santos coffeemaker. The vacuum brewing system is still sold by the company today.
In 1967, Peter Bodum died, leaving company operations to his wife, who ran the company until 1974, at which point the 26-year old Joegen Bodum joined her in the management of the company. The younger Bodum soon hired Carsten Joergensen, a teacher at the Danish School of Art in Copenhagen. Joergensen was put in charge of all facets of design at Bodum, including product design, advertising, corporate branding, and architecture.
Later that year, Bodum began to incorporate what would become the company's signature design language: simplicity, durability, and utility. This philosophy was expressed most directly through the Bodum french press, which was introduced the same year.
1979 would also see Bodum operations move from Denmark to Switzerland, located more centrally to an ever-expanding European market. In 1980, Bodum's design unit, Pi Design, was founded. During the early '80s, Bodum also began to dramatically expand its scope, moving well beyond coffee and tea into a broad range of kitchen products, incorporating plastic, stainless steel, and wood.
In 1986, Bodum opened its first shop in London. Later, in 1991, the Assam teapot was developed, putting a new perspective on tea brewing. Informed by Bodum's longstanding work with the french press, the Assam teapot applied a spacious filtering system to enhance the brewing process. In 1992, Bodum moved into the production of electrical household products, offering the Ibis water kettle. The movement toward electrical kitchen devices would reach a critical plateau in 2000, when Bodum would reintroduce the Santos coffeemaker in an electrical version.
Over 50 Bodum stores currently exist worldwide, and the company operates in 17 countries, withe over 600 employees. Still based in Switzerland, Bodum utilizes 18 sales companies globally, with one production company in Portugal. Bodum's design group, Pi Design, also occupies offices in Switzerland, Hong Kong, an dShanghai. Bodum continues to be a 100% family-owned business, currently owned by Pia and Joegen Bodum, daughter and son of founder Peter Bodum.
Recent Collections
In this section, give a brief overview of relevant themes in a given
collection of new products. Then, upload images of as many new
products as you would like. The more complete your set of images is,
the better idea others will have of the product line.
External Links
Official Bodum Internatinal Website
Category
Owner: "cory" Last edited on January 28, 2007 12:02 pm by "treadstone"
