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USC alumnus Jerry Helling has revolutionized Bernhardt Design, one of America’s oldest furniture companies, all while tirelessly working to preserve authentic design. Approaching furniture ideas from fresh perspectives and investing in LA County’s young designers, DIGS gets a snapshot of this visionary’s direction.
originala trueRevolutionizing and Nurturing Authentic Furniture DesignWRIT TEN BY JOCLENE DAVEY
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF BERNHARDT DESIGN
2 DIGS.NET | 2.26.2016
S ince the onset of his career, Jerry Helling, president and
creative director of Bernhardt Design, has elevated the
company from a family-run wooden furniture business
to an internationally acclaimed design brand with a conscious.
Celebrating his 25th anniversary with Bernhardt, Helling
has accomplished much for the future of streamlined
furniture design.
Famously known for collaborating and nurturing fierce
talent from all over the world, Helling has brought under
Bernhardt’s umbrella such talents as Ross Lovegrove, who
designed the famed Go chair, and Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance,
designer of the cheeky backless-armless sofa in the brand’s
recent Colours collection. With a vast hit list of unique and
groundbreaking designs from great creatives, Helling shares,
“There’s no particular formula I use to find great designers; I am just attracted to really talented people…not necessarily
furniture designers, either. They are typically photographers, fashion designer, artists,
or the like. This allows a fresh perspective and approach to design.”
Bernhardt remains a family-owned business, one with
a history of being lovingly committed to community and
environmental welfare. Helling himself holds an even deeper
conviction to maintaining design authenticity and nurturing
young talent. One initiative dear to his heart is Be Original
Americas, a program created to educate consumers and
designers on why we should concern ourselves with original
design, which is not limited to furniture design or apparel design
or art, but is an architectural, museum and music issue, as
well. Helling was the first president of the program—originally
a collective idea encompassing 10 different manufacturers
and designers that addressed compromised designs (aka
knockoffs), taking the problem from a conversation to
action. The group offers education through lectures, events
and teaching young designers one on one. Now on the
board after years of service, Helling explains, “There are
environmental, performance, and social issues about where
and how these products are made, and in the end, copying
a design is stealing.” Thus, the Be Original website calls
designers, decorators, architects, musicians, interior designers
and anyone in the creative field to join the initiative to protect
design originality.
On a similar note, Helling is part of a handful of programs
for design students and young designers just starting out,
including Tools for School initiative, Contempto and The
Carrot Concept in El Salvador, yet his self-proclaimed favorite
project, ICFF Studio, is based in Los Angeles County at the
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Here, students gain
professional hands-on experience such as seeing a product
from conception to completion then through the sales and
marketing process, and, finally, to retail. Bernhardt Design,
meanwhile, presents these designs at market, and even pays
royalties to students for their original work. Every other week
each fall, Helling actually works in the school’s studio, where
six local LA design students recently won candidacy for the
Bernhardt ICFF scholarship project.
Furniture by Bernhardt Design is available locally at
Twentieth in Los Angeles as well Hive Modern. Outside of
growing the company’s brand, Helling desires to encourage the
design community to strive for accountability and originality
to preserve and protect the industry as well as nurture and
protect talent.
H O M E
(previous page) Anne by Ross Lovegrove for Bernhardt Design (this page) Clockwise from top left: Jerry Helling, President and Creative Director for Bernhardt Design; Lilt Chair, Brendan Kim for Bernhardt Design; Item sofa, Patrick Jouin for Bernhardt Design; Brendan Kim, designer for the Lilt Collection; Colours Collection by Noe Duchafour-Lawrance for Bernhardt Design