MILAN — Since designer Dirk Schönberger made a leap into furnishings with next-gen, comfort-centric label Vetsak in September 2023, he’s been working on enhancing its luxury appeal. On Wednesday, Vetsak said it entered into a strategic partnership with West Hollywood-based Colombian interior designer César Giraldo to help fulfill that strategy.
Beyond his upscale interiors projects, Giraldo has inked collaborations with a roster of brands including an outdoor furniture line with Medellín, Colombia-based Tidelli and a sleek lighting capsule collection with Studio M Lighting.
Teaming with Giraldo is also a way for Vetsak to expand its U.S. popularity and global footprint.
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“I think it’s great to have someone that is already working in that market and who has really great connections and I think we are ready to conquer the American market,” Schönberger, Vetsak’s chief brand officer, told WWD.
Best known for his time as creative director at Adidas from 2010 until 2018, Schönberger made a jump to leather goods and accessories when he took on the role as global creative officer of luxury accessories brand MCM in 2018.
During his tenure at Adidas, Schönberger garnered recognition for his winning collaborations — having brought onboard high-profile creative collaborators such as Rick Owens, Pharrell Williams, Raf Simons, and revived vintage classics such as the Stan Smith sneaker.
With Vetsak, he unveiled his first furnishings project in collaboration with Milan-based fashion brand Aspesi in April during Milan Design Week and that was the first step in elevating Vetsak’s appeal in the luxury arena.
The Aspesi collaboration, which involved fusing Vetsak’s famed modular sofa with Aspesi’s well-known nylon parachute puffer aesthetic into three distinct color worlds, will finally go on sale this month.
Schönberger also integrated novel luxury fabrics into Vetsak’s catalogue with modular sofa variations draped in textiles made by luxury Italian fabrics maker Dedar. Vetsak created a bouclé fabrics called looploop available in three colorways beginning in January — Moose, Bounty and Duna. The fabric will be available for the sofas as well as accessories. In addition, Vetsak has a collaboration with Society Limonta for which they created three blankets in various colorways (plum, dark navy, green).
“I would say Vetsak is modern luxury, a Millennial luxury. What I want to do with César is work on a configuration for the sofa with the leather material and with prints,” Schönberger said, explaining that the modular sofa concept can be developed and enhanced, while at the same time reinforcing its indoor and outdoor appeal. Vetsak basic modular furnishings start at $4,000 in the U.S. market.
“This collaboration is about shared creativity and vision, allowing us to reimagine what luxury can mean for a larger global audience,” Giraldo told WWD, adding that his aim is to contribute his “perspective on refined materials, timeless forms, and meaningful design details that resonate with today’s consumer.”
Vetsak, whose motto is “making the world a more comfortable place,” defines itself as an emerging interior lounge brand. Founded in 2012 in Cape Town by two under-40 German entrepreneurs, the African avant-garde design vision is imbued with the principles of European luxury and German engineering.
Schönberger defines the target client as a younger clientele who is finding their first jobs and furnishing their first homes.