Products Housewares Founded 1979 Type of business Privately held company | Website umbra.com Headquarters Toronto, Canada | |
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Founder Paul Rowan and
Les Mandelbaum | ||
Umbra is a home accessories design and manufacturing company founded in 1978 by childhood friends Les Mandelbaum and Paul Rowan. The company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada has satellite offices in the Netherlands, Brazil, the United States, and China (Shenzhen and Shanghai). Umbra sells more than 2,000 home products through over 25,000 retailers in 120 countries.
History
Les Mandelbaum, Co-founder and President of Umbra, founded a company called Trans-Canada Hardware (TCH) in 1976, which specializes in supplying parts for musicians instrument cases. His childhood friend, Paul Rowan, a graphic designer in the process of decorating his apartment, was unhappy with the available window treatments at the time and had opted to create his own design. The shade was manufactured at TCH and introduced at various trade shows. Buoyed by a positive response, Les and Paul officially founded Umbra (Latin for ‘shade’) in 1978. Their mission was to “bring thought and creativity to everyday items
through original design.”
Umbra opened its first flagship store in Toronto's creative Queen West District in 2007.
Umbra products are found throughout the world at independent and big box retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, The Container Store, Walmart, Target, Crate&Barrel, MoMA Design Store, and on many e-commerce sites such as Wayfair and Amazon.com. Internationally, Umbra has a retail presence in the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, China, Israel, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. Products are also available for purchase through the Umbra and Umbra Shift e-commerce websites.
Design Competitions & Mentorships
For many years, Umbra has engaged students through university collaborations, design competitions and mentorships. A portion of the contest designs goes to support the participating design schools and students. To commemorate the company’s 20th anniversary, Umbra partnered with Pratt Institute in New York City in 2005. The winning design, Miron Lior's CONCEAL Shelf, became one of the brand's most successful products with over one million pieces sold worldwide to date. Umbra continues to host numerous design competitions with institutions in Canada including Carleton University, the Ontario College of Art & Design University, George Brown College, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Humber College, Sheridan College, NSCAD, University of Alberta, Université de Montréal and Humber College. In the US, they have worked with Art Center, California State University Long Beach, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Pratt, Rochester Institute of Technology, Savannah College of Art and Design, Philadelphia University, as well as in Europe. Umbra also as a partnership in Korea with KT&G Sangsangmadang.
Design submissions are also accepted through the Umbra website.
Designs
Umbra has an in-house design team headed by Matt Carr, Vice President of Design, consisting of over 30 designers in Canada and abroad. Many independent designers have also collaborated with Umbra. Designers who have made notable contributions to Umbra are listed blow:
Notable Designs
In 1996, Umbra teamed up with designer Karim Rashid to create what would become one of the company’s most well-known products; the GARBO trash can. The wastebasket was named after actress Greta Garbo, mimicking the shape of her body. It sold more than two million units within the first two years of production and continues to sell today in its miniature version, GARBINO. It was gifted to the Brooklyn Museum in 1999 and added into the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in 2000. In 1997, it earned the Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum.
Karim Rashid also designed the OH Chair for Umbra; a "scoop" of plastic, making use of negative space, modeled into a chair. The OH Chairs are still in the Umbra catalogue today.
Umbra Shift
Umbra Shift is a brand extension of Umbra that focuses on contemporary influences in the design community. Umbra Shift revisits the company’s roots with a roster of established, emerging, and in–house designers who share Umbra’s vision. The extension utilizes higher end materials and uses different production techniques. The result is a collection that expresses diverse points of view, yet sits together with a shared belief in ideas that are functional, familiar and forward thinking. Umbra Shift products are currently available for purchase through the independent retailers and the Umbra Shift website.
Notable Designers
· Harry Allen
· Phillip Malouin
· MSDS
· Castor
Honors
1997 Good Design Award at the Chicago Athenaeum Museum – Garbino
1998 Best Design Strategy Award at the Design Effectiveness Awards
1999 IDEA Award – The Oh Chair
1999 Best Collection Award at the New York Accent on Design Show
1999 Good Design Award at the Chicago Athenaeum Museum – Juxta
1999 Good Design Award at the Chicago Athenaeum Museum - Suma, Tri, Jumbo, bi, and Rim Bowls
1999 Good Design Award at the Chicago Athenaeum Museum – Slip Shoe Horn
1999 Brooklyn Museum of Art – Garbino
1999 Permanent SF MOMA Objects, San Francisco – OH Chair
2000 Permanent Collection The Museum of Modern Art, NYC Dept. of Architecture & Design – Garbo
2001 Premier’s Award for Outstanding Achievement from the colleges of Ontario – Paul Rowan
2003 Good Design Award at the Chicago Athenaeum Museum – Bungee Card Case
2006 Housewares Design Award – The Magino Stool
2006 PRATT Institute Winner – Conceal Shelf
2010 HOUSEWARES DESIGN AWARD International Homewares Association – Fish Hotel
2010 Les Mandelbaum and Paul Rowan, Umbra co-founders, inducted into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends as a Visionary
2011 International Forum Product Design Award – Penguin Soap Pump
2011 Design Defined Honoree, International Housewares Association – The Skinny Can
2014 ICFF Editors Award for Best Accessories – Umbra Shift
2014 Paul Rowan appointed to the Board of the International Housewares Association.
2016 Les Mandelbaum awarded EY's 'Entrepreneur of the Year' Consumer Products Category
In the media
Umbra’s designs have been featured in numerous high profile publications as well as showcased on various television programs.
In 1998, The New York Times Magazine featured a 4-page article about the design and manufacture of the Oh Chair, entitled "Craft: from Eureka to your house" by renowned design journalist Phil Patton.
In 2012, Umbra’s wall décor WALLFLOWER was featured on the Today Show.
Umbra's "Fish Hotel" design was featured on Oprah's "Favorite Things" segment for the year 2012.
Umbra has also been featured in House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Elle Decoration UK, Cool Hunting, Buzzfeed, Core77, Design-Milk, T Magazine, Bloomberg Business, New York Magazine, Metropolis, and more.