Tailored to Fit – REDDIE’s Collaborative Approach to Furniture Design

With its made-to-order furniture capable of being tailored using a broad palette of colours and materials, REDDIE responds to the individual needs of architectural and interiors projects. Working closely with architects and designers, the company fulfils its founding mission of offering customisable design created using sustainable production practices.

Having trained as an interior architect, REDDIE Co-Founder Caroline Olah is well-versed in the demands of commercial projects designed at scale. Caroline was working at a large architectural practice in New York when she first identified the need for furniture that could be tailored to a desired specification, without necessarily being entirely custom-made. “I was working on a large project in Geneva with very short timeframes, and we needed tailored meeting tables for each floor. One floor would have a certain size in blue; the next floor needed a different size in a different colour,” she recalls.

“We’ve had a single design appear in Hamptons-looking houses and slick office spaces – our products are being tailored and used in the way they were intended.”

The challenge sparked a desire to create a collection of well-made furniture with modification options built into the design, but it would take several years and a relocation to Hong Kong before the idea came to fruition. With husband Andrew Olah as Co-Founder and now headquartered in Sydney, REDDIE presents a complete range of indoor and outdoor furniture with the ability to be personalised by selecting from a broad palette of colours and materials. Architects and designers may make further modifications, including specifying the required dimensions, height or fabric for a design.

The diversity of projects to have included a piece from the REDDIE collection is a testament to the products’ versatility, Caroline says. “Within our standard designs the changing of materials can really make each piece look so different. We’ve had a single design appear in Hamptons-looking houses and slick office spaces,– our products are being tailored and used in the way they were intended.” One prominent example is the tall Milton Stool, which cuts a sophisticated figure in powder-coated white steel and beige blanket-stitched leather in Alexander &CO.’s Manly Wharf Bar and, equally, makes an eye-popping statement in vibrant fuchsia and warm timber in a private project by Connors & Co. Another product, the Kami Bar Stool was conceived in response to a designer’s request for a stackable bar stool with a back.

Equally important is REDDIE’s commitment to sustainable and responsible production, from carefully managing offcuts and material waste to embracing innovative fabrication techniques.

While the pieces retain the warmth of natural materials and a classic, residential-friendly aesthetic, they are also sufficiently durable for high-traffic commercial and hospitality applications. “Our design aesthetic straddles residential and commercial. Even in a commercial space, there’s a desire now for products that look more natural and handmade,” explains Caroline, who continues to lead the REDDIE design team. “We don’t follow trends – we are all about great craftsmanship, making our pieces by hand and utilising high-quality materials.”

To facilitate this design ethos, REDDIE has built a vertically integrated business, with production centring around its own factory in Java, Indonesia, a region known for its leading craftsmanship and striking timbers. “We put all our products through rigorous testing to ensure they can withstand a commercial environment,” Caroline says. Equally important is REDDIE’s commitment to sustainable and responsible production, from carefully managing offcuts and material waste to embracing innovative fabrication techniques. To this end, the new REDDIE ReUse initiative takes recycled materials and applies them across the existing range. Notable inclusions are a recycled plastic yarn that is woven into casual seating and a durable, terrazzo-like material manufactured from plastic bottle tops sourced through the Surabaya Waste Bank program and moulded into tabletops. All timber is FSC-certified and a growing number of products also utilise reclaimed teak. These initiatives have seen REDDIE products emerge as a sourcing favourite for Green Star projects.

Solving the daily dilemmas of architects and designers is at the forefront of Caroline’s mind when she considers any line extension to the REDDIE collection. “Designers are increasingly time-poor now and their job is getting a lot more stressful,” she notes. “They are coming to us because they just want something that fits their project and that’s our tagline: design that fits.”