How (and when) is Cocoon born and why?
The concept COCOON was born in 2005 in Amsterdam when Seb Ackerstaff (my partner) and me (Jessie Verdonschot) decided it was the right time to design a timeless bathroom collection with a high feel-good factor. Our products are designed to make people happy, bring comfort and embrace personal identity. When we met with Piet Boon a few years later and he designed a collection of stainless steel taps, showers and basins, the brand really took off and became an important point of reference within the sector. It surpassed all our expectations, we are super happy that the world appreciates the design and our aim to use only sustainable materials of highest quality available.
What are the distinctive features of your products?
Making timeless and sturdy design is only one side of our vision. By using real sustainable materials and having the right people shaping these into pieces of usable art, our products will even make the difference after decades of use. Our taps are made in Italy from marine grade AISI316L stainless steel. An investment few brands dare to make. Only the best is good enough.
Who are the designers of Cocoon's products?
Our first collection was done by our own studio. Now we work with 2 of the worlds greatest designers; Piet Boon, known for his timeless design and John Pawson, who is a living legend who invented ‘minimalism’ and designed our latest iconic collection which will be available from October this year.
What is the project you are most proud of?
Difficult question, as our projects are all over the world and they all have their special features, because our clients generally like to think out of the box and aim to create something unique, something with character. Something really special was the ICE HOTEL in Sweden. It is the world’s first hotel made of ice and snow. The bedrooms and other structures melt away each year and will be constructed again from ice, shaped by famous artists. We provided the bathroom products for the permanent structures that include luxury suites, each with private r bathrooms equipped with our Raw Copper, Gunmetal Black and Stainless Steel Piet Boon by COCOON taps and showers.
How is the bathroom changing nowadays and how Cocoon's products fit in this transformation?
This is exactly what makes us different from other brands. Most of them are searching so desperately for new trends and innovations, they come with a new collection each year and end up with many products which are only ‘hot’ for a year or so. Our vision is totally the opposite; We design and produce collections which are totally timeless. It means they would still make that difference and have that ‘WOW’ factor in a the decades to come. We don’t follow trends, we prefer to set the standard which should last a lifetime.
Do you sell also in Italy? If yes, where?
Of course, we sell world-wide! The nice thing is that Italians have a natural born eye for good design, so they make good clients (I rather say partners). For example the delivery to the hotel which is situated in a cave in Matera, a UNESCO world heritage site, gave us lot of excitement. We sell through showrooms and distributors world wide, but architects and builders can also reach out directly to our Project Division where our professionals will be able to help them with anything they need.