ON MARCH 22ND, A SHIPMENT OF CHAIRS WAS MEANT TO LEAVE MUMBAI.
THEY HAD BEEN WEEKS (MONTHS) IN THE MAKING. ANYONE WHO WORKS WITH INDIA KNOWS THAT GETTING FURNITURE IN AND OUT OF THE COUNTRY REQUIRES PATIENCE AND PROCESS — PAPERWORK, INSPECTIONS, CODES, CONFIRMATIONS. IT IS NEVER RUSHED, THERE IS ALWAYS A SNAG. BUT THEY ARE SOLVABLE. MY PARTNER THERE AND I HAD DONE OUR DUE DILIGENCE. THE BOXES WERE TICKED. THE AIRWAY BILL WAS ISSUED. THE PIECES WERE FINALLY MOVING FROM OUR MUMBAI HUB TO AMSTERDAM.
AND THEN GEOPOLITICS INTERVENED.
WHAT BEGAN AS A BOMBING CAMPAIGN INVOLVING IRAN QUICKLY WIDENED INTO SOMETHING FAR LARGER, A DESTABILISING MOMENT FOR THE REGION AND, INEVITABLY, THE REST OF US. IN EUROPE, THE EFFECTS WERE FIRST FELT IN PETROL PRICES AND JITTERY MARKETS. THEN IN AIRSPACE CLOSURES. THEN IN FREIGHT.
ONLY WHEN THE SHIPMENT STALLED DID I LEARN WHAT MANY LOGISTICS PROFESSIONALS ALREADY KNOW: CARRIERS SUCH AS FEDEX ROUTE A SIGNIFICANT VOLUME OF CARGO FROM INDIA AND BEYOND THROUGH THEIR DUBAI HUB. WHEN AIRSPACE BECOMES UNCERTAIN, OPEN ONE DAY, RESTRICTED THE NEXT, FREIGHT DOES NOT MOVE PREDICTABLY. IT PAUSES. IT REROUTES. IT WAITS.
AND SO, UNEXPECTEDLY, A SET OF DINING CHAIRS BECAME COLLATERAL IN A CONFLICT THOUSANDS OF KILOMETRES AWAY.
WAR LIMBO
FOR A SMALL DESIGN-LED BUSINESS, DELAYS ARE RARELY ABSTRACT.
THEY MEAN CANCELLING A VIEWING WITH A CLIENT FOR AN INTERIOR PROJECT. THEY MEAN POSTPONING A PHOTO SHOOT THAT HAD BEEN SCHEDULED WEEKS IN ADVANCE. THEY MEAN LATE DELIVERIES AND THE UNCOMFORTABLE EMAILS THAT FOLLOW. THEY MEAN CASH FLOW TIED UP MID-AIR, OR NOT EVEN MID-AIR, SIMPLY STATIC.
DESIGN OFTEN PRESENTS ITSELF AS SERENE. CONTROLLED. CURATED. WE SHOW THE FINISHED IMAGE: THE CHAIR IN THE MALIBU DINING ROOM, THE LINEN FALLING JUST SO, THE ARCHITECT SATISFIED.
BUT BEHIND THAT IMAGE IS A WEB OF INTERDEPENDENCE. WORKSHOPS IN MUMBAI. SUPPLIERS IN BALI. CARPENTERS WHO RELY ON STEADY ORDERS. FREIGHT HANDLERS IN TRANSIT HUBS. CUSTOMS OFFICERS. DRIVERS. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS. IF ONE NODE FALTERS, THE EFFECT CASCADES OUTWARD. JUST LOOK AT THE EFFECT OF THE US-IMPOSED TARIFFS.
WE TEND TO LIVE IN OUR OWN BUBBLES, AESTHETIC, GEOGRAPHIC, PROFESSIONAL, BUT THE SUPPLY CHAIN DOES NOT. IT IS GLOBAL BY DESIGN.
IF CLIENTS HESITATE BECAUSE THEY FEAR LATE DELIVERIES, ORDERS SLOW. IF ORDERS SLOW, ATELIERS FEEL IT. RAW MATERIALS THAT NEED TO MOVE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS — WOOD, LINEN, HARDWARE — ARE DELAYED. AND FREIGHT IS NOT ONLY FURNITURE. IT IS MEDICINE. COMPONENTS. ESSENTIALS. OIL, MONEY AND POWER MAY MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND, BUT THEY CAN JUST AS EASILY HALT IT FOR THE REST OF US.
MILAN WILL GO ON
NEXT WEEK, I WILL BE IN MILAN FOR DESIGN WEEK. THE APERITIVI WILL BE POURED. INSTALLATIONS WILL OPEN. THERE WILL BE BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS, AMBITIOUS LAUNCHES AND CROWDED RESTAURANTS.
IT WILL LOOK LIKE BUSINESS AS USUAL.
BUT BENEATH THAT POLISHED SURFACE, INTENTIONAL BUSINESSES, ESPECIALLY SMALLER ONES, ARE RECALIBRATING QUIETLY. RETHINKING TIMELINES. BUFFERING RISK. MANAGING CONVERSATIONS WITH CLIENTS WHO UNDERSTANDABLY EXPECT CERTAINTY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES.
THE DESIGN WORLD PRIDES ITSELF ON GLOBAL REACH. YET MOMENTS LIKE THIS EXPOSE HOW DEPENDENT WE ARE ON FRAGILE CORRIDORS OF AIRSPACE AND DIPLOMACY.
THE CASE FOR PROXIMITY
IF THERE IS A LESSON IN ALL OF THIS, PERHAPS IT IS PROXIMITY.
WE RECENTLY PARTNERED WITH BELGIUM’S COLLETT & VICTOR ON A SERIES OF CUSTOM PIECES. THE LINEN IS SOURCED LOCALLY. THE PRODUCTION IS CLOSE TO HOME. THE COLLECTION WILL ARRIVE ON TIME — NOT BECAUSE IT IS MORE BEAUTIFUL (THOUGH IT IS), BUT BECAUSE IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON CONTESTED AIRSPACE OR VOLATILE FREIGHT ROUTES.
LOCAL IS NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE. NOR SHOULD GLOBAL COLLABORATION DISAPPEAR, IT ENRICHES DESIGN IMMEASURABLY. BUT DIVERSIFICATION MATTERS. SO DOES RESILIENCE.
THE IRONY IS THAT THE VERY GLOBALISM THAT ALLOWS A CHAIR TO BE CRAFTED IN MUMBAI AND PLACED IN A MALIBU RESIDENCE IS THE SAME SYSTEM THAT RENDERS IT VULNERABLE TO A CONFLICT IN IRAN.
WE ARE ALL CONNECTED. DESIGNERS PERHAPS MORE THAN WE REALISE.
FOR NOW, SOME OF OUR PIECES REMAIN IN WHAT I’VE COME TO THINK OF AS WAR LIMBO — BOXED, READY, WAITING FOR A FLIGHT PATH TO STABILISE. WHEN THEY ARRIVE, THEY WILL CARRY MORE THAN CRAFTSMANSHIP. THEY WILL CARRY THE IMPRINT OF A MOMENT WHEN THE WORLD FELT SUDDENLY SMALLER AND MORE FRAGILE.
WATCH THIS SPACE.