2005-08-01

Make Way for ducduc

When two guys from The Street decide there's a dearth of good-looking modern baby furniture out there, they get serious. Lots of market research, lots of number crunching, lots of hunting down famously expert advisors (architect and designer Brady Wilcox, for example, who was the creative director at John Varvatos and has worked with clients like Donna Karen and Waterworks). Then of course, there's the implementation of a bulletproof business plan.

The result is ducduc, a new design collaborative debuting six collections of furniture with an equal number of textile lines waiting in the wings. Following the recent trend of I'm-fed-up-and-I'm-not-going-to-take-it-anymore approach of baby companies born out of frustration, founder Philip Erdoes (who is also CEO of a venture capital firm) came up with the idea with his wife when they were so desperate to find baby furniture that matched the contemporary dˇcor of their home, they wound up transforming a dresser they'd found in Paris years before into a changing table.

For its initial launch, the line includes cribs, changing tables/dressers, storage units, activity tables and seating. The inspirations for ducduc's furniture range from sculptor Donald Judd to architectural modernism to the Orient. Sophisticated yet playful details are incorporated into the designs, including chalkboard paint surfaces, graphic text appliquˇs and a gender-neutral color palette. The pieces are made from strong hardwoods and non-VOC lacquered veneers, and to ensure that the highest safety standards were applied to each design, a safety consultant was retained. Perhaps best of all, the pieces are convertible ? not simply from crib to youth bed, but are meant to be used beyond the nursery as the designs appeal to both adults and their kids. (Which is probably a good thing since crib prices start at $1,099.)

In other words, there's something for everyone ? everyone who wants something different, that is.