Pastoe & Droog

Gijs Bakker and Renny Ramakers haven’t got the faintest idea of what things will be like, when in April 1993 they are present in Milan as a duo for the first time. They have rented a space in a beautiful old house filled with antique furniture at the Via Cerva, where the Dutch manufacturer Pastoe has been presenting itself for years. Financial support has come from a number of Dutch institutions.

Bakker and Ramakers show twelve products under the name ‘Droog Design’. Among them are the Milk bottle lamp and Rag chair by Tejo Remy, a cupboard made of scrap wood by Piet Hein Eek, the Chair with holes by Gijs Bakker and two cupboards by Jan Konings & Jurgen Bey.
 

To their surprise the attention for these products is overwhelming. The most striking reaction is recorded in the French paper Liberation. After complimenting a number of famous designers, the author of the article concludes that the award for the most spiritual ‘savoir-vivre’ should go to an unknown group, called Droog Design.

Italian Designer Andrea Branzi opens the first presentation of Droog. In his speech he labels the products ‘protestantism’. It is not clear whether he means this in a positive or a negative sense. The Dutch word ‘droog’ means dry.