Umbra (company)

Umbra
Private
Founded 1979
Founder Paul Rowan and
Les Mandelbaum
Headquarters Toronto, Canada
Products Housewares
Website umbra.com

Umbra is a home accessories design and manufacturing company founded in 1978 by childhood friends Les Mandelbaum and Paul Rowan.[1] The company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada has satellite offices in the Netherlands, Brazil, the United States, and China (Shenzhen and Shanghai). Umbra sells more than 2,000 home products through over 25,000 retailers in 120 countries.[2]

History

Les Mandelbaum, Co-founder and President of Umbra, founded a company called Trans-Canada Hardware (TCH) in 1976, which specializes in supplying parts for musicians instrument cases.[3] His childhood friend, Paul Rowan, a graphic designer in the process of decorating his apartment, was unhappy with the available window treatments at the time and had opted to create his own design. The shade was manufactured at TCH and introduced at various trade shows. Buoyed by a positive response, Les and Paul officially founded Umbra (Latin for ‘shade’) in 1978. Their mission was to “bring thought and creativity to everyday items

through original design.”[4]

Umbra Concept Store in downtown Toronto

Umbra opened its first flagship store in Toronto's creative Queen West District in 2007.[5]

Umbra products are found throughout the world at independent and big box retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, The Container Store, Walmart, Target, Crate&Barrel, MoMA Design Store, and on many e-commerce sites such as Wayfair and Amazon.com. Internationally, Umbra has a retail presence in the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, China, Israel, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. Products are also available for purchase through the Umbra and Umbra Shift e-commerce websites.

Design competitions and mentorships

For many years, Umbra has engaged students through university collaborations, design competitions and mentorships.[6] A portion of the contest designs goes to support the participating design schools and students. To commemorate the company’s 20th anniversary, Umbra partnered with Pratt Institute in New York City in 2005. The winning design, Miron Lior's CONCEAL Shelf, became one of the brand's most successful products with over one million pieces sold worldwide to date.[7] Umbra continues to host numerous design competitions with institutions in Canada including Carleton University, the Ontario College of Art & Design University, George Brown College,[8] Emily Carr University of Art and Design,[9] Humber College, Sheridan College, NSCAD, University of Alberta, Université de Montréal and Humber College. In the US, they have worked with Art Center, California State University Long Beach, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Pratt, Rochester Institute of Technology, Savannah College of Art and Design, Philadelphia University, as well as in Europe. Umbra also as a partnership in Korea with KT&G Sangsangmadang.[10]

Design submissions are also accepted through the Umbra website.

Designs

Umbra has an in-house design team headed by Matt Carr, Vice President of Design, consisting of over 30 designers in Canada and abroad. Many independent designers have also collaborated with Umbra. Designers who have made notable contributions to Umbra are listed blow:

Notable Designs

In 1996, Umbra teamed up with designer Karim Rashid to create what would become one of the company’s most well-known products; the GARBO trash can. The wastebasket was named after actress Greta Garbo, mimicking the shape of her body. It sold more than two million units within the first two years of production and continues to sell today in its miniature version, GARBINO. It was gifted to the Brooklyn Museum in 1999 and added into the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in 2000. In 1997, it earned the Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum.

Karim Rashid also designed the OH Chair for Umbra; a "scoop" of plastic, making use of negative space, modeled into a chair. The OH Chairs are still in the Umbra catalogue today.

Umbra Shift

Umbra Shift is a brand extension of Umbra that focuses on contemporary influences in the design community. Umbra Shift revisits the company’s roots with a roster of established, emerging, and in–house designers who share Umbra’s vision. The extension utilizes higher end materials and uses different production techniques. The result is a collection that expresses diverse points of view, yet sits together with a shared belief in ideas that are functional, familiar and forward thinking. Umbra Shift products are currently available for purchase through the independent retailers and the Umbra Shift website.

Notable designers

Honors

In the media

Umbra’s designs have been featured in numerous high profile publications as well as showcased on various television programs.

In 1998, The New York Times Magazine featured a 4-page article about the design and manufacture of the Oh Chair, entitled "Craft: from Eureka to your house" by renowned design journalist Phil Patton.[27]

In 2012, Umbra’s wall décor WALLFLOWER was featured on the Today Show.[28]

Umbra's "Fish Hotel" design was featured on Oprah's "Favorite Things" segment for the year 2012.

Umbra has also been featured in House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Elle Decoration UK, Cool Hunting, Buzzfeed, Core77, Design-Milk, T Magazine, Bloomberg Business, New York Magazine, Metropolis, and more.

References

  1. "Shop Modern Home Décor - Free Shipping Over $50 | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  2. "Canada’s Umbra celebrates 35 big years of small design with reinvented Queen W. flagship store | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  3. "Les Mandelbaum". www.amamarketinghalloflegends.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  4. "Shop Modern Home Décor - Free Shipping Over $50 | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  5. Drolet, Daniel. “Umbra proves flagship stores still have their place.” Canwest News Service 19 Jul. 2008: D3
  6. "Designers | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  7. http://www.umbra.com/usd/blog/winners-pratt-umbra-student-competition/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. "The Industry - School of Design". www.georgebrown.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  9. "Canadian Craft & Design, History & Theory - DEMONSTRATION SITE". www.connect.ecuad.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  10. "KT&G Sangsangmadang Hongdae (KT&G 상상마당 홍대) | Official Korea Tourism Organization". english.visitkorea.or.kr. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  11. "Karim Rashid". karimrashid.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  12. "Paul Rowan | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  13. "Matt Carr | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  14. "Sung Wook Park | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  15. "Alan Wisniewski | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  16. "Laura Carwardine | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  17. "Philippe Malouin’s Hanger Chair goes into production with Umbra Shift". Dezeen. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  18. https://chi-athenaeum.org/assets/pdf_archive_GDA/GOOD_DESIGN_1999.pdf
  19. "GARBINO CAN SILVER | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  20. https://chi-athenaeum.org/assets/pdf_archives/Gooddesign/GOOD_DESIGN_1996.pdf
  21. "OH CHAIR JASMINE | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  22. "Karim Rashid's Garbo Turns 20: Does Its Message Still Hold Up?". www.metropolismag.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  23. "BUNGEE CARD CASE BLACK | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  24. "CONCEAL BOOK SHELF LARGE SILVER | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  25. "PENGUIN SOAP PUMP NICKEL | Umbra". www.umbra.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  26. http://www.ey.com/ca/en/about-us/entrepreneurship/entrepreneur-of-the-year/ey-entrepreneur-of-the-year-finalists-ontario
  27. Patton, Phil. “Craft: from Eureka to Your House.” The New York Times, 13 dec. 1998
  28. Thomas, Bobbie. "Bobbie's Buzz: Affordable home accents". TODAY.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
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