Cultivated
Postscript
A new sustainability program extends the life of authentic furniture and lighting design.
Australian furniture brand Cult has long been an advocate for the enduring appeal of good design and, with the launch of Cultivated, the company continues to prove it. This new sustainability program, which launched at Melbourne Design Week in 2021, has been in development since 2013 and its simple premise is genius. Cultivated offers to buy back aged or end-of-life authentic design, before refurbishing and restoring each piece and returning it to the market for sale. It’s a hugely positive initiative with a strong environmental conscience at its heart.
“We’re investing in the circular economy and reducing the big impact furniture and lighting waste has on the environment,” explains Cultivated’s brand manager Joshua Ellis. “We really want to change people’s mindset and get them to invest in good design that can be used time and time again without being discarded.”
In giving these pieces new purpose and finding them a new home, the program is not only educating people on the financial and environmental benefits of buying authentic design, it’s also investing in local craftspeople, including upholsterers, carpenters and metalworkers.
Take Cultivated’s recent buyback of 180 classic Series 7 chairs, designed by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, from the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The gallery in turn used those funds to purchase new products from Cult, while the Series 7 chairs were hand-sanded, with any chips and scratches filled in with wax, before being hand-sanded again and painted to original condition. These chairs can now be found in the lobby and mezzanine of Sydney’s Grosvenor Place and at Appellation wine bar in Melbourne.
Other restorations include the renewal of a Louis Poulsen Artichoke pendant, during which all of the light fitting’s 72 metal leaves were removed, stripped and re-coated, and the refurbishment of an Erik Jørgensen Corona chair, a process that relied on craftspeople who had been trained by Cult’s European brand partners in unique hand-stitching techniques. “Our aim is to do as little as possible to the item, but to get the best results possible,” says Joshua. “Using the least amount of materials and processes goes toward maintaining the integrity of the original product.”
According to the Authentic Design Alliance, the equivalent of 800,000 three-seater sofas, 1.65 million dining tables or 3.4 million coffee tables are thrown away in Australia each year – a truly shocking statistic. Cultivated is doing its bit to combat this problem and, by encouraging the “buy once, buy well” mantra, it is perpetuating the experienced idea that original design has enduring value. cultivated.com.au