Entrepreneurs of the Northern Rose (1)
Located not far from the famous traditional handicraft district of Ban Tawai, we find Onyx Designs. An innovative furniture maker  that specializes in bamboo, rattan and water hyacinths for their products. 

With contemporary Belgian design and the skills of talented Thai craftsmen the result makes an exciting blend of east and west.  Onyx is a fresh and modern initiative that brings out the best of indigenous traditions and giving it a new touch.

Olivier Laurent is one of the founders of  Onyx. Feeling fed up chasing deadlines and caught up in the stress in a major European company, Olivier left Europe for Chiang Mai. When his friend Xavier who was already in Thailand asked if he wanted to join in to start up a new business, Olivier didn’t hesitate. It took him only a month to move to Chiang Mai and soon after Onyx saw the daylight. In the beginning Onyx was trying to make their products in Ban Tawai but the result wasn’t 100% satisfactory, so they decided to open their own factory. For a good three years now Onyx founders have been working hard to build their brand and developing their products.

Onyx has a vision of creating furniture from sustainable sources. Water hyacinths are a nuisance in the rivers anyway and rattan can be planted and harvested from rainforests without causing damage to the forest.

The Northern Rose had its first contact with Olivier at a Green Fair in Nimmanhemin Street in December last year. At that point we were a bit disappointed to see that many companies at the fair just seemed to use “green products” as a marketing tool. Onyx was one of the few companies that caught our eyes. Olivier admits that there is still a lot of work to realize the idea of 100% green products but it’s getting easier every year, and the environmental awareness increases gradually a as the Thai suppliers becomes more aware of these issues.

- Some years ago, it was hard to find LED lamps for our  Bulb chairs but now it’s no problem says Olivier.

At the moment the factory has half a dozen workers. The Oxbow sofa made of “honey” rattan and water hyacinth takes more than two weeks to make. Some of the necessary machines used are imported from Belgium, and modified by Olivier and Xavier to suit their new purpose of cutting and bending rattan.  No strong smell of chemicals can be felt in the factory and the workers go on with their job at their own pace. 

- We can’t show any three dimension sketch for our workers. They are very talented but the best way is to make a model and then let the workers copy it, Olivier explains. At the same time it takes a lot of work to reach perfection to meet the target set by the Belgian designer Gaëtan Van de Wyer.

This kind of material is best suited for indoor use claims Olivier. If you want furniture for outdoor use, you would better use synthetic rattan, he says further.

Before we leave we have a look at the furniture Onyx displays in the small showroom. We at The Northern Rose are very excited to find these encouraging entrepreneurs, and we will keep looking for interesting people and products to present to our readers. Our target is to find entrepreneurs that strive to make green products, or that shows and example when it comes to social entrepreneurship, or both.  We are grateful for any tips that we might get from our readers.

By the way, next time you see an article about Onyx. Remember where you saw it first!

© Text: Per Sundberg

© Pictures: Jan Friman