How can a design brand maintain authenticity and relevance in a world dominated by mass consumption? It’s a challenge that brands like TON embrace wholeheartedly. Next year, the company is celebrating 165 years of long-standing commitment to local sourcing and traditional craftsmanship in bentwood furniture. Recently, Fiona Sanipelli, co-founder of DesignSpec, sat down with Alzbeta Kotolanova, the Global Sales and Marketing Director of TON, to dive deep into the company’s rich history. They discussed the brand’s origins, its design-focused evolution, and plans to expand TON’s presence in the American market through a partnership with DS Collection.
Could you tell us about your role at TON and what inspired you to join the company?
For the past two and a half years, I’ve been TON’s Global Sales and Marketing Director. My task is both creating the strategy and presenting TON as a brand for its heritage and the values that we stand for. I also ensure that we sell enough products worldwide and serve our customers to the best of our abilities.
Three years ago, when the owner and CEO of TON asked me whether I would be interested in working for the company, I immediately said yes. I’m a huge design lover with an extensive furniture business background, so I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to work for a Czech brand with such a rich history. TON is like Nike for the US people. It’s one of the very few Czech-owned companies without any foreign capital that exports to more than 80 countries in the world. The brand has never been discontinued, even in the toughest periods.
TON is like Nike for the US people.
Above: Original No. 14 Chair by Thonet
Could you share the origin story of TON as a company?
The TON factory was founded in 1861 as the second company of Michael Thonet. It was one of the first companies that started the production of industrially produced chairs, which is the famous Number 14 chair by Thonet. That piece of furniture shaped part of the whole design history in many ways. The factory was built in the southeast of the Czech Republic, very close to the Austrian borders, which are full of beech forests. Choosing this area was a great advantage for sourcing the right materials for wood bending by hand, because almost any other type of wood would be complicated to work with. We take pride in the fact that over 80% of our materials are sourced within 200 kilometers of our factory. At TON, we prioritize working with local companies to obtain our wood and other materials.
When you come into the company space, you are welcomed by the original machines and introduced to the original ways of our technology. At TON, we are focused on keeping the legacy of our founding fathers.
At TON, we are focused on keeping the legacy of our founding fathers.
What does the wood-bending process at TON look like?
Each of our chairs is hand-made. Although we have modern machines, including CNC machines, all the bent wood is still shaped manually. Our factory has skilled wood-bending workers, who are often third—or fourth-generation craftsmen from the same family. It takes a significant amount of steam to make the wood pliable, and our experienced workers can bend over 200 pieces in a single shift, while it would take an average person about an hour to work on just one piece.
Our factory has skilled wood-bending workers, who are often third—or fourth-generation craftsmen from the same family.
How do you approach the process of developing designs at TON? Which design collaborations have been the most significant to the company?
Our design portfolio is currently categorized into two main styles: classic and modern furniture. The classic section features several bent pieces, including the previously mentioned Number 14 Chair and some of my personal favorites, such as Armchairs Number 30 and 33.
Above: No. 30 Armchair
The modern portfolio started growing in 2010 when Milan Dostalik, the CEO of TON, went to a fair in Cologne. There, he discovered a young student named Alexander Gufler, who was showcasing one of his designs. Milan was so impressed that he practically hired Alex on the spot, leading to the creation of the Merano Armchair, the first piece in our modern collection. Since its introduction in 2010, the Merano Collection has been our best seller. Inspired by the success of this collaboration, we gradually began reaching out to other designers to further expand our portfolio.
Merano Chair was the first piece in our modern collection.
Above: Merano Armchair
Another notable TON partnership is with Arik Levy, a renowned French architect who designed the Split Collection. The Split Chair is an innovative piece of craftsmanship, as it was the world’s first design to split a single piece of wood lengthwise and bend it in two directions to support a seat. Arik also designed the Bloom Tables, which feature a unique flower-like wooden pedestal.
TON’s most recent collaboration was with Patrick Norguet, another great French designer. With his contribution, we presented a collection of lounge seating named Cissy, which was quite a new venture for us.
Above: Bloom Table
KASCHKASCH, a German product design studio, created the P.O.V. Table for us. It’s the most expensive table in our collection, and the most popular one. The high demand for that product lets us know that there are still people sensitive to design and willing to invest in it. The name “P.O.V.” refers to the concept that the table can be viewed from different angles, with each perspective revealing something unique. The P.O.V. table’s mixture of simplicity and complexity is the pinnacle of what you want to achieve in design.
The P.O.V. table’s mixture of simplicity and complexity is the pinnacle of what you want to achieve in design.
Above: POV Table
Are you working on any new products right now that you’re excited about?
We are constantly developing new products, though we are secretive about our product development process. TON’s strategy is to introduce at least one new product each year, typically during the Salone del Mobile, the largest trade fair for furniture design.
Are you planning anything special for TON’s 165th anniversary?
With our anniversary, we want to celebrate how TON has positively impacted the lives of many people, particularly in the Czech Republic. The Ironica Chair, which I like to refer to as the “communist chair,” is featured in our collection and evokes a sense of camaraderie and familiarity among our customers. This chair used to be a staple in every household, with no other alternative available. We want to remind people of the beautiful history we have behind us and, hopefully, ahead.
We would also like to highlight the ethos that TON represents. Our brand creates products designed to last for centuries, as we prioritize sustainability and the use of recycled materials. When you purchase TON products, you are investing in something you can repair. The company has a renovations department that repairs chairs that are over 130 years old, rediscovered in attics by people who found them in their grandmother’s homes.
We want to remind people of the beautiful history we have behind us and, hopefully, ahead.
Above: Cissy Lounge Chair
Tell us about some of the goals that TON wants to achieve by joining our DS Collection.
The ultimate goal of our partnership with DS Collection is to expand our business opportunities within the American market. At TON, we choose partners carefully. We are not only looking for someone to promote our products but also for individuals who embody the ethos I discussed earlier and can collaborate to achieve our common goals.
As a Sales Director, I believe it’s crucial to understand that our work is not just about selling chairs; it’s about evoking an emotion. I have always sought to work for companies that offer more than just business, and I have discovered that quality in our partnership with DesignSpec.
I see many advantages in DesignSpec being a family-owned business. In my previous job with one of the largest corporations in the world, I experienced both the upsides and downsides of that environment. However, I significantly missed the human touch and the ability to make decisions more freely. I believe that DesignSpec aligns with TON on many of those aspects.
I have always sought to work for companies that offer more than just business, and I have discovered that quality in our partnership with DesignSpec.
