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Umbra exports its Toronto-designed home decor all over the world.
Design makes cities great. It defines their skyline, decorates the streets and inspires citizens to be curious, thoughtful and proud. But design does not have to be on a large scale to contribute toward its city's aesthetic. A city can be made more beautiful one home at a time, says Les Mandelbaum, co-founder of Toronto home décor company Umbra. And it can start with something as simple as a garbage can.
Umbra has been making contemporary designs for everyday home products for the past 26 years. It exports its Toronto-born design sensibilities to over 70 countries and over 8,000 retailers around the world. In every colourful plastic "OH Chair" and sublimely shaped soap dish, a little piece of Toronto helps make homes in Europe, Asia and Australia a little bit sexier.
"I would say Umbra is probably the most prolific company in the world in terms of introducing new designs into the home environment," says Mandelbaum. "Every day, we hear from consumers whose homes are more beautiful because they have Umbra products in them. And our retailers definitely appreciate the sales our products ring up!"
Umbra designs hundreds of different products for the home-over 400 a year on average-including everything from drapery rods to wastebaskets to chairs, tables and lamps. Each product has its own name and is meant to be unique, adding personality and taste to people's homes.
The goal has always been to make the ordinary extraordinary since long-time friends Mandelbaum and Paul Rowan founded the company in Toronto in 1979. They worked together to manufacture and distribute a paper window shade Rowan invented while decorating a new apartment. Success ensued, and the duo embarked on a quest to reinvent other common household items and offer them at an affordable price for the consumer.
Thus Umbra was born-umbra being the Latin word for shadow-and a unique design empire launched. Umbra now employs over 400 people in its offices worldwide. The company is centred on its esteemed design studio, ensconced inside Umbra's stunning, custom-made worldwide headquarters in Scarborough. Inside, a crack team of innovative designers strive to make everyday items unique and inspiring.
The deep pool of design talent in Toronto has been a boon to the company, Mandelbaum says, and many of its status-quo-challenging designs are a result of the varied and rich backgrounds of Canadian-born designers. Umbra alumni include internationally recognized designer Karim Rashid, who was raised in Toronto and attended Carleton University. His achievements at Umbra included the massively popular Umbra Garbino garbage can, which now has honour of being included in the permanent collection at the New York City Museum of Modern Art.
The more diverse his workforce, the better the products, says Mandelbaum.
"The multicultural aspect of Toronto has certainly helped us," he explains. "If you look at the designers in our studio, the ideas come from Mexico, the US, Argentina, and all over the world. A lot of cities don't have such a huge mosaic in terms of the talent that is available."
The aesthetic those designers bring helps produce the unique, individually named products Umbra manufactures each year. They often use technologically advanced materials, such as translucent plastic or a combination of metallic laminates or plastic, to achieve their fashion forward designs. In each product, Umbra consistently promotes its founding belief that everyday products need not be boring-they can be pieces of art unto themselves.
Nowhere is Umbra's ethos more prevalent than the contemporary, almost futuristic design of its headquarters. Located just off the 401 Highway, the building is a beacon of Mandelbaum's belief that companies can contribute to a city's greatness through design and innovation.
"We felt an obligation to support our brand and our philosophy," says Mandelbaum of the building's architecture. "Our Toronto headquarters is literally built around design - our sky-lit design studio is at the centre of our unique building."
The building is wrapped in a translucent plastic covering-"like the building is wearing sunglasses," Mandelbaum jokes-that's meant to diffuse light and attract attention at night when the building is lit from within.
Like the colourful crayons of the Ontario College of Art and Design, or the new Crystal addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, Mandelbaum values architecture that feeds Toronto's soul. The Umbra headquarters is a unique addition to the landscape, but more importantly, Mandelbaum says, it's an inspiration to his staff and customers.
"We want the association with Umbra to be positive. We want the environment to be uplifting for the people that work there. Just like we think the architecture in the city should be uplifting and promoting creativity. So I think we've done that," he says. "I'm really proud of the way it worked."
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