Minimalism is the Future

Baker Street Boys is a luxury furniture and homeware brand established by Arek Glanowski and Tomasz Danielec, design artists and provocateurs who create strong minimalistic statements.

‘’There’s an abundance of products in the market so the uniqueness of the design is crucial to be noticed.”
Arek Glanowski and Tomasz Danielec

Inspired by industrial design and the growing need for a multifunctional design for high-end interiors, the two designers use a range of natural materials that work together to make a statement in our interiors.

Proudly British, this furniture brand puts to use skilled British and European craftsmen to produce high standard furniture, sourcing raw materials including marble, wood and raw steel from environmentally friendly and responsible sources.

Scale talks to Tomasz Danielec, the Creative Director of the brand to get an insight into the brand’s creative pursuits.

SCALE: Why product design? What made you move to designing of products from architecture? Is that a natural progression?

Tomasz: It was a pretty natural decision. I have been professionally fulfilled architect, with a huge experience of creating the most challenging, architectural projects and I was simply looking for a new challenge. To be honest I have always wanted to design a little, iconic piece of art and four years ago my desire became reality.

SCALE: Which was the first product that you have launched under the name Baker Street Boys?

Tomasz: The first product I designed was THE LINE Side Table. It was quickly followed by the rest of THE LINE Collection stools. We have launched it at the London’s Clerkenwell Design Week in 2016 with a huge success. THE LINE was widely recognized which was amazing for us. It has quickly gained ‘Iconic and Statement’ status as it is being constantly featured by the most important design blogs and press. You can’t imagine a better start of the brand!

SCALE: How do you make sure that the product gets noticed? Is retail a much more difficult process?

Tomasz: The most important thing is to stand out from the crowd. There’s an abundance of design and product on the market so the uniqueness of the design is crucial to get picked.

Luckily we live in this golden, internet era where we can have access to every corner of the globe through social media, online blogs, and e-commerce. It enables us to sell directly to our customers all around the world through e-commerce as well as to build retail relationships worldwide.

SCALE: Tell us about THE LINE? Inspiration and process of manufacture to recognition in the industry.

Tomasz: THE LINE Collection was born out of our obsession with lines and geometry and was inspired by the industrial revolution and the 19th century London. Both wood and steel coexist together in our furniture as it has taken place two centuries ago, due to industrial influences. The streets of London are reflected in the color scheme of the furniture, the black iron, and the raw wood simply visualize the industrial thought of architecture.

The manufacturing process is relatively simple and deliberately low-tech in general but the attention to the little details is what’s really challenging to deliver the successful, minimalistic pieces. It is also all about celebrating the uniqueness of the materials. For example for THE LINE collection, we use 200-300 year old oak, reclaimed from old, French barns. The oak is aged and matured even further in the heart of Cotswold, England, for 15 years.

Regarding the industry recognition — I would say authenticity is the key. Creating authentic design, using natural materials and craftsmanship, focused on beauty and benefit for the users will always gain respect from the industry and the clients.

SCALE: What is the expertise of each one of you? How do you divide the process of designing?

Tomasz: Our core team is very small but very effective.

I am the Creative Director and I am responsible for the product design and all the creative aspects of the brand.

Arek who is a co-founder of the brand is the business brain and the Managing Director. He is excellent in building relationships, business growth, and sustainability.

Patrick is our Content and Marketing Manager, he simply makes sure the world sees us. This is one of the core roles within our team.

Last but not least is my sister Aga who helps with the artistic side of the manufacturing as well as all the operations and quality control. She makes sure that orders are beautifully packed and fulfilled.

We are also blessed with amazing, highly skilled European craftsmen, based in the UK, Poland, Germany, and France, who make beautiful pieces for our customers. We have a great operational team which I am unable to list all by name here.

SCALE: Tell us one trend that is characteristics of 2019, in interiors and in products? 

Tomasz: We had a couple of years gimmicks (floating plants etc) in the design world which are luckily coming to an end!

Minimalism is, in my opinion, the future. It corresponds with current climate challenges and needs for sustainable living.

We will hopefully see more celebration of the materials and purity of design. Hermes furniture collection – especially Karumi Japanese benches are a great example of hi-end, minimalistic design. We also love Kirsty White’s Hound Table – cleverness and simplicity.

There is also a luxury industrial design revolution coming in the next couple of years and we will hopefully be leading in this area.

SCALE: What next for the Baker Street Boys?

Tomasz: We are finishing working on THE BOX collection. It will be a true celebration of minimalism, sustainability, and contrasts.  The collection of tables and stools.

I can’t say more about it but just to tease you, there will be an art project where artist creates patterns with the help of the forces of nature.

SCALE: Who is your favorite designer?

Tomasz: I absolutely adore the work of Oki Sato, especially a collection for Issey Miyake.