Imperial coffee table, Billy armchair, Tango bed and banquette, Desire bedside table, Anri chaise longue. All furniture from the Helen, Shepel Furniture collection
The era of modernism, focused on mass production, gave us the opportunity to choose sofas, armchairs, beds, chairs and tables from hundreds of samples. From modernism grew modern trends, such as designer furniture made of plywood, glass, textiles, concrete and metal. The founders of the Ukrainian furniture brand Shepel Furniture, architects Alexander and Alena Shepel, seem to be going against the grain. They create soft and cased handmade furniture with a base made of a warm, classic material - wood. They use the techniques of traditional craft, not shying away from modern technologies that allow to achieve perfection in details. At the same time, like the modernists, they focus on high design, creating high-class products.
Aleksandr and Alena Shepel create handmade soft and cased furniture with a base made of warm, classic material — solid wood
Shepel Furniture has entered the European market, it is exhibited in the London showroom of Christopher Peacock - a designer who interpreted the paradigm of classic British furniture, made by hand, connected it with the energy potential to embody the ideas inherent in the carriers of the "American dream". Aleksandr Shepel's immediate plans include expansion into the US market.
Perhaps, the Ukrainian Shepel and the British Peacock are connected by a special mental kinship and a philosophy of immutable values. Perhaps the secret of success lies in something else, not so obvious. It was about the phenomenon of Shepel Furniture that we talked with the architect, interior designer Alexander Shepel himself, trying to determine the subtle connections between a unique, high-quality work of design art and what makes his work sought-after, fashionable interior items, timeless objects.
Gravity sofa, detail. Helen Collection, Shepel Furniture
PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: How did the history of the Shepel Furniture brand begin? From some hobby, hobby, which then grew into something bigger? Why did a successful architect decide to dedicate himself to creating furniture?
Alexander Shepel: When developing an architectural project of a private house, private apartments, restaurants, we always designed interiors, integrating original furniture into them, not only soft, but also case furniture, which was developed individually according to our sketches. Why? Apparently, for the same reason as Ferdinand Porsche, who, looking around and not seeing the car of his dreams, decided to design it himself. Analogues that would conditionally fit our interiors, of course, exist, but they are insanely expensive. And at some point it seemed to me and Alena that we are capable of independently producing furniture that would perfectly match our interior and architectural solutions. In addition, over 10 years of practice, we have accumulated a package of ideas and developments that we wanted to bring to life.
Our furniture is furniture in an elegant style. I am not a supporter of using some established stylistic direction
By giving our furniture projects to contractors, we did not have the opportunity to control the process, which would affect the terms of implementation. This is how the idea of creating a separate furniture direction Shepel Furniture was born. Our production is only 4 years old, so our brand can be considered very young. Today, we are only at the first stage of development, and our first Helen collection has become a kind of summary of ideas and 10 years of experience.
PM: How was the aesthetics of Shepel Furniture formed? Why did you prefer the modern interpretation of classicism and art deco?
A.Sh .: Our furniture is furniture in an elegant style. I am not a supporter of using some established stylistic direction, thereby limiting myself to any framework of neoclassicism or the same art deco. We like laconic elegant forms that evoke a feeling of confidence and are associated with comfort. The closest analogue is "American interior", the mix that was formed as a result of the fusion of styles brought to the new continent by the Spaniards, French, and English. I feel comfortable in a space designed in the American style — it's comfortable, beautiful. And of course, I like to work in this direction. This is a passionate, sensual, ambitious, but at the same time restrained and balanced style.
There are no examples of productions similar to ours in Ukraine, so we did not have the opportunity to use someone else's work
PM: How did the transition from idea to implementation, to production take place? Where and how did you select a team, craftsmen capable of performing carriage screeds, who know the secrets and technologies of the shop?
A.Sh .: First of all, my wife and I are key players in our team. And positioning the company as a family business, we select people who share our philosophy and aesthetic preferences. When we develop a new model, everyone takes part in this process — the designer, the technologist, the seamstress, and the carpenters. This is teamwork. We have talented carpenters who feel wood, know the specifics of working with this complex material. In Ukraine, there are no examples of productions similar to ours, so we did not have the opportunity to use someone else's developments. We independently gained experience. Our sofas and armchairs are solid frame products in which the armrest, legs and back form an indivisible whole. In Ukraine today, they mainly produce prefabricated furniture, where the parts are fastened with bolts and nails. But when we look at classical or neoclassical furniture, it is all solid frame. Specific features of the cut and upholstery technology are related to this.
Richard coffee table, Nataly sofa. All furniture from the Helen, Shepel Furniture collection
And at the time when we were forming a team, there were simply no masters who possessed a complex approach and skills. Well, Ukraine did not have its own Duncan Phyf and his students (Duncan Phyf is an American furniture designer and cabinetmaker, a representative of neoclassicism and the founder of the factory production of furniture in the "American style". — Editor's note). Masters came who were used to working with chipboard or some sheet material, and we learned together and understood the intricacies of the craft by experience. The problem of the lack of skilled hands still exists, because we are expanding and every day the orders are increasing.
In addition, we set requirements for our employees that sound quite specific, but are actually dictated by technology. For example, there are no chickens at our factory. Let me explain: if a person smokes a cigarette, and then proceeds to upholster a chair with Loro Piana fabric, which costs 300 euros per linear meter, because it is made from artificial raw materials, this is unacceptable, because natural fabrics are very sensitive and absorb odors. Therefore, our employees must be fully responsible for what materials they will have to work with.
In a few decades, we will have our own raw material base, our own forest. Yes, we are ready to make plans for many years ahead!
PM: Where and how do you choose materials such as wood, fabrics and horse hair? Where does all this come from in Ukraine?
A.Sh .: We use maple wood that grows here in Ukraine. This is a dense material with a beautiful pattern - narrow dark rays on a light background. Maple has a fine-porous texture, and when finished with varnish, a smooth surface with a rustic effect is obtained. Technically, we can make furniture from ash or oak, but their wood is coarse-grained and does not correspond to an elegant, even slightly mannered design. We buy dried unedged board from our partners in Kharkiv, we always require radiological safety certificates, documents from forestry — it is important for us to be confident in the quality of the material. We leave the parts and blanks to rest for at least 3 months. We observe, reject something. In the future, we plan to experiment with American walnut, but this is a more expensive material, and we must first calculate and form a price. This is the next stage of development. And in May, we finally began to realize one more of our dreams - we planted 100 maple seedlings, next year we plan to plant 500. And in a few decades we will have our own raw material base, our own forest. Yes, we are ready to make plans for many years ahead!
Gravity chair. Helen Collection, Shepel Furniture
We bring all other components from abroad, from Europe. Fabrics — from Italy, latex — from Belgium. We created a selection of fabrics, it contains about 50 samples, if you add the breakdown by color - about 200. We selected high-quality, environmentally friendly fabrics, linen and cotton with viscose impurities of no more than 15%. We focused on British standards, which have strict requirements for the flammability of textiles.
PM: Do you collaborate with any of the designers? Perhaps you develop the design of fabric for upholstery and accessories yourself or outsource it?
A.Sh .: We would certainly like to do fabric design in the future. But this is a separate large-scale direction, for the profitability of which volumes are important. The textile industry in Ukraine is not going through the best of times, many factories have closed down.
However, our basic collection of fabrics can be expanded at the request of the customer. This is the advantage of an individual approach to orders and our partners. We offer a layout, a sketch, a prototype, but if the customer would like to use some specific upholstery fabric for this piece of furniture, we will meet him. And we do not claim that our chair is a work of art that cannot be corrected. No, we are flexible and ready for counter offers and wishes. Perhaps a person would like to increase the seating depth, adjust an armchair, a sofa according to individual ergonomic parameters... Why not, if these adjustments are a matter of personal comfort and do not affect the proportions and aesthetics of the object. The same applies to fabrics. The choice of designer and exclusive fabrics on the European market is huge. And since our production is, one might say, chamber production and all our furniture is completely handmade, we are able to optimize the parameters for a specific customer.
Our furniture is able to stand the test of time thanks to its quality
PM: In your presentations, there is often an appeal to family values. What do you put in these words, maybe you mean that furniture can be not just an object of modern interior, but an inherited relic? A subject out of time?
A.Sh .: Our company is a family business. I am not talking only about my wife and I. Among our employees there are already labor dynasties, when father and son work as masters. And all investments in the project are our family resources and means. We do not attract outside investors in order not to sacrifice freedom of creativity, our principles and philosophy. We treat each item as if we were making all this furniture for ourselves. Yes, we understand that we have chosen a long and complex development process, but it also opens up new opportunities for us, like, for example, our own forest...
Imperial coffee table, Moon chair, Vincent chest of drawers, Demure banquette, Anna bed, Katie bedside table. All furniture from the Helen, Shepel Furniture collection
And yes, our furniture is able to stand the test of time thanks to its quality. The solid frame behaves more predictably. Why does an ordinary sofa or a mass-produced armchair start to creak over time? If wooden parts are fastened with metal, then the wood will inevitably dry out and gaps and cracks will form between it and the metal fasteners. And if foam rubber is used as a filler, then after some 5 years of operation, such soft furniture will inevitably lose its shape.
Latex fillers and springs are designed for decades. Once we disassembled a Soviet armchair made more than 35 years ago. His seat was made of latex - yes, it crumbled around the edges, but kept its shape as a whole. Why does furniture in museums, which is 200 years old, look preserved? Because quality wood, springs or horse hair were used in its production. When a person buys a sofa for 20 thousand dollars, he is right to be interested - what's inside? Yes, design is important, for some the brand is important, but quality must be behind all this. The furniture should not only be beautiful on the outside, but beautiful, conditionally, on the inside. And then it can be inherited.
PM: Why did you decide to promote your brand on the market of Europe and America? And how difficult was the process of "exporting"?
A.Sh .: I have to say that the demand for handmade furniture like ours is still quite low in the Ukrainian market. The post-Soviet mentality is such that for Ukrainians a famous brand is more important than the real quality of production. For example, many small Italian factories that supply furniture to Ukraine are not even concerned about quality. But their production is in demand because it is "made in Italy."
We got access to the prestigious London site, the Christopher Peacock showroom, as a result of direct contacts
Another reason is lack of trust. To ideas, to the result of work. I remember a few years ago, when our whole furniture story was just beginning, Alena and I were waiting for the first masters in the still empty workshop. They came, and we began to explain to them how and exactly what kind of furniture we plan to make. The workers listened to us and said: "It's an adventure, it's impossible!". Now we have proven that everything is possible. And I often read the same disbelief in the eyes of the customer - they say, Ukrainian furniture can't be so expensive!
Gravity sofa. Helen Collection, Shepel Furniture
When we entered the European market, we faced a completely different reaction. By the way, it didn't even start with participation in exhibitions. Shepel Furniture was exhibited at Maison&Objet in January 2018, and in September at Decorex in London. We are looking closely at the future Salone del Mobile in Milan, evaluating the possibility of participation and prospects. Participation in exhibitions brings not so much a direct commercial result in the form of orders, as much as it allows to understand the vector of further movement, to understand the request of the consumer.
Gravity sofa. Helen Collection, Shepel Furniture
But we got access to the prestigious London site, the Christopher Peacock showroom, as a result of direct contacts, direct communication. We simply showed our catalog, samples, talked about the brand, our approach and philosophy. And they received inspiring feedback: "It's so cool - what you're doing!" And just after four months of negotiations and communication, we were offered a super site. In the new showroom of Christopher Peacock (this is a famous American company that produces kitchens and wardrobes), Shepel Furniture stands next to the kitchen for 200 thousand pounds... Customers come to this salon in Rolls-Royces or Bentleys, and we, a young Ukrainian company, perform as an exclusive furniture partner of Christopher Peacock.
Gravity sofa. Helen Collection, Shepel Furniture
Even at the stage of preparation for the opening, the level of communication shook us. Negotiations, communication — everything is at the highest level. Both management and ordinary employees show friendly interest and willingness to help and advise.
