TIPTOE: Sustainable, good quality furniture at the right price
Sustainability in furniture is here to stay. And there are increasingly more brands that go for offering well designed, well thought out and well produced furniture. This is the case with TIPTOE, a family company created three generations ago near Chamonix by the grandfather of Matthieu Bourgeaux, the co-founder.
For TIPTOE, its mission is made up of these three variables: sustainability, creativity and innovation as well as offering quality and durability at the right prices.
“We create sustainable, useful, great quality furniture, designed to last and always at the right price.”
They believe that the world doesn’t need more furniture, but more well thought out and well produced furniture. In recent decades, the trend towards “disposable furniture” has become established: that is, furniture that is very cheap but made from low-quality materials and has a particularly short lifespan. And they want to break away from that very dynamic that is so consumerist and so far from being sustainable.
That’s why they approach sustainability holistically to control the environmental impact of their business at every stage of the value chain while ensuring the longevity and recyclability of their products. For that reason, their greatest ambition is to participate in the transition of the furniture sector using recycled, innovative materials to make functional and resistant design pieces.
“It is possible to create beautiful objects from waste.”
Moreover, and with the aim of approaching the design of each product with the same high standards, they have established 5 principles for sustainable design: 1. Create simple objects, 2. Doing a lot with little, 3. Using the right materials, 4. Creating to last and 5. Thinking about deconstruction.
“We think about the end of life of our object from the design phase. We offer a deconstruction aspect that allows TIPTOE parts to be easily repaired and recycled.”
Good quality materials
The heart of their eco-design lies in the use of noble and robust materials such as aluminium and stainless steel.
“Today, steel is the most recycled material in the world. And together with aluminium, they generate energy savings of 75% and 95% respectively compared to the extraction of virgin metal.”
All the wood they use comes from sustainably managed European forests with the FSC or PEFC label. These labels guarantee compliance with the rules of sustainable forest management by ensuring regular renewal of the forest and preserving the balance of the local ecosystem.
They also work with wood that comes from destroyed buildings in order to give it a second life as shelves or tables together with recycled plastics and fabrics. They choose their recycled fabrics from the prestigious Danish company Gabriel, renowned for its know-how and quality of fabrics since 1851. They are made of 75% or 98% recycled polyester. The fabrics are machine washable and also 100% recyclable at the end of their life.
And, in order to support local production and reduce their carbon footprint, all their production is 100% European.
“Choosing European manufacturing means participating in the change of the furniture industry.”
The RESTORE programme
RESTORE is a programme to extend the life of their products. It was launched in 2020, this programme allows them to take back the customers’ table legs and wall hangers (regardless of their condition) from their customers’ homes in exchange for a voucher.
“Our products receive a second life as they can be restored before putting them back into circulation.”
Social Commitment
Since the beginning of TIPTOE, they have supported the association Toit à Moi to participate in the reintegration of the homeless.
“We offer TIPTOE furniture to Toit à Moi to furnish the flats purchased thanks to the pooling of donations.”
Additionally, and in order to pursue this social commitment, they have chosen to work with an *ESAT for the packaging of TIPTOE products. This establishment and service of help through work allows the professional integration of disabled people.
* Établissements et services d’aide par le travail (ESAT)
Collaborations
Although they have a very powerful team of designers in-house, they like to collaborate with artists; illustrators, painters, architectural studios, photographers, 3D … In fact, they want to carry out several collaborations in order to become a mediator between the world of sustainable design and the artistic field.
“We seek to engage in dialogue between different domains in order to propose ever more unique collections.”
Some of their most famous collaborations have been with Pantone, Ressource, Marie Claire Maison…
Coming soon…
Among the many projects they are working on, they plan to open their first shop, that will open its doors before summer 2022, in the heart of the Marais in Paris.
“For us it is important to have a physical point of contact with our community.”
As if this weren’t enough, and with the aim of furthering their environmental and social commitment, TIPTOE is in the process of obtaining B-Corp certification, a certification granted to commercial companies that meet societal and environmental requirements, as well as governance and public transparency requirements.
We’ll say no more, as well as having become customers, it’s clear we will follow the steps of this brand that is so genuine, honest and committed to design, to the planet and to people. Chapeau!
(*) Photos by Tiptoe.
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