“When I think of Ottawa, Canada, I see many geographical similarities to Denmark,” says Egyptian-born, Canada-raised award-winning designer Karim Rashid. He now lives and works out of New York City. “The landscape, trees and rivers are very similar and that’s how my new collection called Ottawa came to fruition for the 60-year-old Danish-brand furnishings store BoConcept.” Rashid, who was schooled at Ottawa’s Carleton University and has more than 3,000 designs in production for everyone from Alessi to Sony to Hugo Boss, just launched a global furniture and accessory line with BoConcept.
The upper-midpriced Ottawa collection was inspired by Rashid’s love of nature, yet is far from rustic. Its streamlined, simple forms and exquisite quality makes every piece an instant collectable. “People think that simple, modern furnishings are so easy to design and manufacture; therefore, it should have a low cost attached. Actually, the simpler the piece, the better quality materials and longer production time is needed to ensure everything is perfect,” explains the designer. “By embellishing furnishings with fabric skirting, studs, trims and fringes we can hide a not-so-perfect-form. We hide nothing in this collection and it works very well.”
Ottawa vases, $79 for a set of four.
[My inspiration was] “a modern take on leaves and trees.” Ottawa chair in leather, from $699.
The designer’s signature thumbprint is like art for the floor. This wool & cotton rug is available in two sizes. Fingerprint rug, starts at $729.
“Like a treehouse being supported by trees.” Sideboard options include various inserts to change the
accents, from wood to bright colors. From $2599.
