In 2014, Sofie Christensen Egelund moved to Manhattan with her husband, Frank, and their two children to help launch Vipp in the United States. The third-generation owner of the Danish design brand opened a TriBeCa showroom to share with designers the ins and outs of Vipp’s signature modular kitchen system, a now-iconic brand staple that forgoes trendy embellishments for carefully considered details and allows customers to craft a functional kitchen on their own terms.
Fast forward seven years, and Vipp is charting new territory in the neighborhood. During lockdown, the Christensen Egelunds were hard at work gut-renovating a 3,800-square-foot fifth-floor apartment around the corner into an expansive showroom, called Vipp Studio, that could house the entire Vipp furniture collection and kitchen system. Enlisting the help of Lebanese firm Raëd Abillama Architects and stylist Colin King, the duo meticulously transformed the former 19th-century factory loft into pristine apartment-like setting that not only puts the brand’s pared-down aesthetic on full display, but also doubles as a pied-à-terre for the family.
Where the space truly stuns is in the details. Vipp products obviously take center stage, but they’re arrayed alongside classic Danish designs such as a Poul Kjaerholm dining table outfitted with the brand’s Cabin Chairs. A sofa, cocktail table, and daybed by Vipp anchor the living room, which also features an Alvar Aalto armchair for Artek. Vipp spotlights, meanwhile, subtly illuminate a curving scalloped shower clad in Ceppo stone.
Vipp Studio arrives as TriBeCa is experiencing somewhat of a creative resurgence. An influx of fine art galleries are forgoing pricey storefronts in the increasingly inaccessible Chelsea for more affordable spaces in the area—a movement that dovetails with a newly burgeoning design community thanks to neighborhood newcomers Twenty First Gallery, Orior, Allied Maker, and Egg Collective. “TriBeCa has been the perfect place to begin a conversation about Vipp in the United States,” the couple tells Surface. “The neighborhood is rich with history, creative energy, and families, which is what we represent.”
Like most city apartments, the showroom will be regularly updated with new products and prototypes that offer a firsthand look inside Vipp and the Christensen Egelunds. “The Studio is a living laboratory in which we’re able to test new ideas and materials while sharing our family legacy and lifestyle with our clients,” the couple continues. In terms of what’s next, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s no better way to test out furniture than by experiencing it in-situ, so we’re certain that Vipp Studio signals even greater things to come from the Danish stalwarts.
Vipp Studio is available to visit by appointment only.
