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Page 1: Bernhardt Design

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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

Page 2: 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


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