NAU
NAU makes its European debut at 3daysofdesign, Denmark’s premier design festival, showcasing the originality, quality and craftsmanship of Australian design.
For Richard Munao, founder of Cult, Copenhagen is the capital of design. The city was the host of 3daysofdesign from 18-20 June this year, an annual festival that celebrates design and innovation from around the world. It was therefore the perfect place for the European debut of Munao’s furniture brand NAU. He says, “I think there’s a great opportunity to stand proudly with the talented designers that we have now that have all been given an opportunity to start to shine.”
Munao developed NAU – which stands for New Australian – in 2014 and branded it in 2017. The NAU showroom at this year’s edition of 3daysofdesign was situated opposite the Danish Design Museum, which ensured great foot traffic and a steady stream of people interested in design and curious about what Australia has to offer.
On show was the Cove Collection and Nola light by Sydney-based designer Tom Fereday, alongside stand-out pieces from NAU’s wider catalogue by celebrated designer Adam Goodrum. The Cove Collection includes sofas, armchairs, club chairs and a coffee table crafted entirely from solid oak and walnut, while Nola is a lighting piece made from hand-cast glass and solid stone.
Munao believes the key to the brand’s success is the values they share with their designers. “The Australian designers that we work with have all got their feet on the ground … I think we’ve got the right stable of designers that really promote what they do and what they stand for, which is very similar to our values.”
Goodrum first met Munao through industry connections, and then built the relationship when, as a tutor at the University of Technology Sydney, he brought his design students on tours of the Cult showroom. When Munao approached Goodrum with the proposal of designing a sofa, he came back with four designs – three of which then went into production.
“It was a really amazing way to be thrown into a collaboration with Richard’s brand and to launch a product that really continued to sell for the last six or seven years.”
For Fereday, his introduction to Munao was through a more formal path. “My first experience with NAU was actually through the Mercedes-Benz Awards,” he says. “I developed a prototype, which is now called the Sea chair. It was a really amazing way to be thrown into a collaboration with Richard’s brand and to launch a product that really continued to sell for the last six or seven years.”
NAU’s presence at 3daysofdesign shows that Australia is well on its way to being highly regarded in the European design scene. Goodrum notes that while Australian architecture, fashion and food are quite well known, the design industry still doesn’t yet have the same recognition. “I think that’s growing to a certain extent,” he says. Australia’s relative newness to the scene offers a sense of creative freedom. “In some ways, we have quite a blank canvas and a freedom to do what we like, which almost makes it a little bit easier,” he says, “so hopefully there’s a uniqueness and a freshness to Australian design.”
