Dezeen Magazine

One Nordic 2014 collection

Fab and One Nordic announce new design brand Hem

News: following online retailer Fab's acquisition of Scandinavian design brand One Nordic, the two companies have announced the creation of a new furniture brand called Hem that will sell products by Form Us With Love.

As part of Fab's ever-changing sales strategy, the company has enlisted the help of One Nordic Furniture Company and German brand MassivKonzept to form Hem – Swedish for "home".

The brand is set to launch in 30 countries across the EU and including the USA this September, offering customisable flat-pack products available online and from three physical showrooms in Germany.

It will initially offer 300 exclusive products including existing One Nordic lighting and furniture by designers GamFratesi, Luca Nichetto and Form Us With Love.

"Hem is a new brand and spinoff company from Fab that will feature a tight assortment of private-label furnishings," One Nordic creative director Petrus Palmér told Dezeen.

"Hem will be a 'full-stack' design company, meaning we will take on design, product development, manufacturing, technology and logistics," he continued. "Our products will feature innovations in easy-assembly, speedy delivery, and mass customisation."

Palmér, along with One Nordic cofounders Joel Roos and Stefan Mahlberg, will lead the Hem design and development team. A range of One Nordic products will also be available through the new brand.

"Our market position is certainly above other mass brands in terms of design, quality and durability," said Palmér, who also cofounded Swedish design studio Form Us With Love. "We hope to be the design brand that customers graduate to when they are seeking fresh designs that will stand the test of time."

One Nordic Furniture Company was launched at the Stockholm Furniture Fair in 2012, with a range of products designed to be packed, shipped and assembled easily.

Cofounder Joel Roos told Dezeen that furniture brands are "terrible" at selling online in Stockholm last year.

Fab bought the Finnish company last month as part of a deal worth "tens of millions of dollars" according to Palmér, in a move to expand its catalogue of original designs and European business.

"We are creating a new kind of home company that delivers more of what people want – good design, easy assembly, customisation, affordable prices and multi-point shopping opportunities — and less of what they don't – commoditised style, lengthy ship times, and inflexible shopping experience," said Fab CEO Jason Goldberg.

In January, Fab ended its relationship with external designers and brands across Europe to focus on selling its own custom-designed furniture.

Fab dropped its online flash sales concept last year, when the company's chief design officer Bradford Shellhammer told Dezeen that the website "relied too heavily on kitsch".

It was founded in America in 2010 as a social network, before evolving into an e-commerce platform.