Interview: Dirk-Uwe Klaas

Photo: Dirk-Uwe Klaas

Dirk-Uwe Klaas, born 1958, has been CEO of the Association of the German Furniture Industry (Verband der Deutschen Möbelindustrie, VDM) since 1995. The VDM is the biggest trade organisation under the umbrella of the Association of the German Woodworking and Plastic Industries (Hauptverband der Deutschen Holz und Kunststoffe verarbeitenden Industrie und verwandter Industriezweige, HDH). Wood is the connecting thread running through this major lobby that consists of no fewer than 23 member associations from an extremely complex sector covering pretty much the entire spectrum of the furnishing world: furniture manufacturers and shopfitters, interior finishing including parquet, the window industry and even the prefab house segment. Within the HDH, the VDM represents sectors such as ...

The average German only replaces his sofa with a new one every 8-12 years. Don’t you sometimes wish there was a scrapping incentive for furniture too?
We in the furniture industry aren’t calling for subsidies – we just want equal treatment for all sectors. Instead of getting people to scrap their cars, the politicians ought to be scrapping taxes for normal citizens and SMEs so they’ve got more money left in their pockets and budgets at the end of the month – money they can use however they see fit.

The imm cologne’s Trendboard is anticipating a return to more quality consciousness as a response to the economic crisis. Is “real” quality actually still affordable these days?
We’re living in a time when people are refraining from quick consumption again so yes, you could say people have started to change their mentality. They’re becoming more sensitive to how we use the world’s resources and looking for things that promise value and durability again. That’s why there’s an increasing demand for sustainability and value in our industry too. For earlier generations it was normal not to follow every furniture or clothing fashion or go along with every new style that came out. Then there was a period of rapid and changing consumption. The pleasure was often short-lived and the products interchangeable. Today a growing number of people are realising how crazy that is. In the face of globalisation and its obvious result, i.e. a further four billion people who are aspiring to our western standard of living, people are beginning to question the familiar throw-away mentality. In the furniture sector, we’re seeing a definite increase in the demand not only for lasting quality but for good design as well, enduring design that will stand the test of time. Personally, I agree with what my grandfather used to say: “We’re too poor to buy cheap furniture.”

Author: Frank A. Reinhardt
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Dirk-Uwe Klaas in an interview about:

• Consumers’ changing mentality
• Quality in the furniture industry
• Promoting professional design training in Germany
• Green Design
• Premium design

Further Information:

• Title: “We’re living in a time when people are refraining from quick consumption again so yes, you could say people have started to change their mentality.”
• Vita Dirk-Uwe Klaas
• Economic data about the furniture sector