continued. . . 

Jensen proved a worthy smithy.

A considerable strength was his ability to collaborate with other artists, and one fortuitous pairing with Johan Rohde resulted in Jensen’s first foray into flatware. (It was Rohde who a few years later, in 1916, designed the company’s most famous and still best-selling pattern, Acorn.) Jensen had that rare gift of attracting a staff of highly talented designers and craftsmen, whom he fully credited with their designs. Although many of the artists working for him were influenced by his style, Jensen was smart enough to allow his designers freedom of expression which expanded the stylistic scope of the firm and contributed to its burgeoning success.

Within four years of hanging his own shingle, Jensen opened his first shop, in Berlin. More shops followed, in New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires. This decade – beginning in 1908 with the opening of the Berlin boutique – marked the pinnacle of Jensen’s work and happiness, and the majority of the designs which brought him world-renown were created during this period.

Would that the story end there. More family deaths (including his second beloved wife in the 1918 flu pandemic), economic crises, and a business too big for its breeches sapped Jensen’s creative fires, making the last decade of his life bitter and disappointing.

Georg Jensen died in 1935 at the age of 69.

Although sadness marked the latter part of his life, it is, indeed, a life well worth lionizing and lauding. It is this legacy that Barkley and Ross are eager to tap. “Georg Jensen was ahead of his time,” Barkley exclaims. “He created a rich heritage that evokes passion for our brand. The designs of our past are just as relevant today as when they were introduced decades ago. These are timeless classics that could have been designed today. Very few brands can tout that.”
To be sure, these iconic pieces are very at-home in today’s marketplace. Most of the company’s signature designs are found in the 36-item sterling holloware assortments, $1,500 to $125,000. Celebrated items like Henning Koppel’s pitcher and, the founder’s son, Soren Georg Jensen’s candleholder. This line seldom grows, but every year or so the archives are visited and a piece or two sees the light of day. “It fills me with pride to work for a company with this history and product assortment,” says Ross. “There’s enormous opportunity in the U.S. which has yet to be tapped. There remains much to be done.”

It is, essentially, akin to starting a business from scratch. Backroom operations – from invoicing and shipping to customer service and sales – are all new. This overhauled infrastructure is ready to service a broader range of retailers particularly since the 130-SKU Living Collection – $50 to $525 – is being unveiled to most merchants for the first time. Under Royal Copenhagen’s distribution Living wasn’t sold here; it was an exclusive for the company’s own boutiques. The collections have been outsourced, but according to Barkley at the “same exacting standards as our sterling.” While Living is not targeted to a mass market, the execs allow it will attract a new tier of merchants that the sterling assortments haven’t. “Not every retailer can sell our holloware and cutlery,” Barkley admits. “Living offers the Georg Jensen brand and quality at a different price point.”

Living is coming at an ideal time because flatware, once Georg Jensen’s claim to fame, contributes just 10% of annual sales volume. (The last new stainless launch was ten years ago; it’s been decades since there was a sterling flatware launch.) “Flatware is an important part of our heritage,” Barkley acknowledges, “but it’s not extremely lucrative.” There are nine sterling flatware designs ($950 to $4,000, five pieces) and eight stainless patterns ($115 to $145).

continued . . . .