Kasper Egelund (Vipp): »My whole concept grew out of failure«

The beginnings of the design company Vipp goes back to the 1930s and for a long time there was only one product: the legendary Vipp dustbin. Kasper Egelund then turned Vipp into a design label with a wide range of products.

In 2014 Vipp set out to enter a new market: Design cabins – launching the modular Vipp Shelter. The shelter attracted a lot of attention but only few buyers. Ten years later, there are several other Vipp holiday homes apart from the shelter: Vipp Farmhouse, Vipp Chimney House and Vipp Cold Hawaii for example – and more are coming.

We spoke to Kasper Egelund about the idea behind the Vipp houses and his inspiring projects.

Hello Kasper, nice to meet you! Where are you right now?

Actually, in our Copenhagen headquarters. I should have been sitting in our holiday home right now, but that did not work out as the children are still at school.

Tell us a bit about your holiday houses. What was the idea behind them?

The whole story started in 2010 with a fragile, floating prototype in Sweden called Vipp Shelter. I tried to create a house in the way we invent products, and the project indeed got a lot of attention from the public and the press. Wallpaper, for example, awarded it the “coolest brand extension ever” at that time.

Can you build houses in the way you build
cars or boats. No!

Kasper Egelund

After two years of attention and applause and visitors, I had sold only one to an American. I could not convert it to anything that made sense at that moment and it failed commercially. At that point, I still didn’t want to rent it out, as it had to be fresh for potential customers.

What happened next?

Then I changed my mind. Shipping a high-end prefab house around the world is not viable. Plus, you have a lot of national and regional regulations on your customers’ side …

I switched to renting it out, as many people had been interested in it during those two years. So I developed a guest concept. And I could see that it worked! Happy customers, I got something meaningful out of it.

My whole concept grew out of failure.
A totally disastrous failure. I ran headlong into a war …

Kasper Egelund

An interesting story for everyone. You try something. You can either win or learn. And I learned.

I developed Vipp Loft and Vipp Pencil Case in Denmark, which gave us the opportunity to build more projects. I have always been passionate about merging architecture and design, to build up a small, unique universe.

In the meantime, we have developed 12 guesthouses and rent them out. With Vipp Todos Santos in Mexico we have just opened our first guesthouse outside Europe. And today we’re working on four new projects. In January we’re opening Vipp Tunnel House in Tasmania, then a house in Upstate New York and an accommodation in the Highlands of Scotland will follow, as well as one in Iceland. We are also investigating options for Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.

Each time, we’re trying to do a bit better, and I’m quite sure already that our new projects will be on the next level. The momentum is so strong now.

All the houses can only be rented via our Vipp website.

How do you rent out the houses?

As many of these projects as possible will be on your platform. Because when I have external partners, I tell them what our shared goal is. If they say: I want to rent something out, I will tell them, we have this amazing partner in Germany, we will put it on URLAUBSARCHITEKTUR. Otherwise, if they do not really want to rent it out, we will just keep it here in the Vipp universe.

How do you find the places, how do you develop the projects?

I have a very good team for spatial planning, and I think I have an eye for good locations myself.
The interior design is done by our design team, in collaboration with a local team, who mainly do the architecture. We work with various architects for the projects. Our team makes sure that the aesthetics really match the universe of Vipp.

We have heard about a series of events you are currently organizing in Copenhagen, the “Supper Club”.

I am passionate about my projects, the Supper Club and the guest houses. The Supper Club is great fun, I meet new people that I wouldn’t meet otherwise. What I’m looking for in life is like my Supper Club: good people, new friendships, people appreciating architecture, design, art, food… that’s what motivates me. You must join us for the next event!

What do you do if one of your guest houses fails?

Like URLAUBSARCHITEKTUR, Vipp is a promise of quality. People trust us, so we must be reliable.

Building a house is a long process and a stress test, so you can quickly discover, if the people involved are really committed. We are a 3rd generation company and are not interested in short-term, superficial strategies.
You can never do these kinds of projects without running into an issue; but so far, it has always worked out.

Apart from your guest houses, are there any other upcoming product categories?

We are adding outdoor furniture to our range, as you can see at Vipp Salaca River.

And we are working on a new kitchen. Up to now, our kitchens have been quite high-end. We are trying to do something that is a little more democratic to reach a wider audience.

Thanks for talking to us, Kasper. See you at the next Supper Club then!

Interview: The conversation was conducted by Jan Hamer and Ulrich Stefan Knoll

Photos: Todos Santos © Anders Hviid (cover photo; 15 – 20), portrait photo © Pia Winther (1), Vipp Shelter © Anders Hviid (2 – 6), Vipp Loft © Anders Hviid (7 – 11), Vipp Pencil Case © Anders Hviid (12 -14), Vipp Salaca River © Pia Winther (21 – 25)