Adventure behind the scenes with Mike
Over the past four years I have been on 18 sourcing trips. I picked up the nickname Explorer Mike. None of my trips have been like this one before.
My career as a sourcing agent for designer furniture has taken me all around the world. I traveled halfway around the world to meet partners on the manufacturing side for Rove Concepts. Over the years, the most important thing we were absolutely sure about was that we would work ethically and responsibly with whoever crafted our products.
That was another thing: Craft. To us, making furniture was the work of a craftsman and artisan. Nothing mass produced in an overseas sweatshop, and certainly no unfair use of labor. After we'd set up steady relationships with various manufacturers in Asia, each of our subsequent business trips over the years had brought us in for a short visit to the floors to witness the craftsmen in action. Left in awe by the craftsmen's speed and accuracy every time, we had a desire to better understand their work. Who were these people; how did they come to be here; and how did they become so good at what they were doing? We decided to spend some time getting to know these people – our partners – better over the years. Eventually we would plan a trip dedicated solely to meeting our artisans.
At first, I was unsure of how we wanted to share our overwhelming experiences with our friends. In the end we decided to document these amazing stories online. This was the origins of XROVE.
After a roller-coaster ride, we were finally able to plan our long overdue journey. In July I remember we took our first trip to Asia dedicated to meeting with our artisans. The trip was vastly unlike any of the others. Immediately, we felt dazed. Honking cars and people everywhere added to the frenzy. It was crazy, but we never felt so positive about what was going to happen next. Being able to speak their native language, we directed our taxi driver to one of the first of many artisan workshops.
I had the pleasure of speaking with 27 of the most skilled people we've ever met. Each person had their own story to tell and were eager to talk to us about their craft. We learned that many of the skills are traditional and are passed down through generations. Many of the craftsmen had gained their training not through a trade’s school like we typically accustom ourselves to in North America, but at home from their fathers and mothers.
XROVE aims to introduce the ethos and personalities behind our furniture. Our goal is to meet every single artisan who plays a part in making our pieces, from manual laborers, apprentices and the most skilled artisans of the trade. We feel people don't realize how many people are involved in the making of a simple chair or a side table, and for me, finding out these things gives us a much deeper connection to the pieces.
We hope XROVE will add an extra quality to our furniture for our customers. We want the people who become owners of our furniture to feel like they've been taken to a different part of the world and have found something amazingly unique to bring home with them. And with that, there's always a great story to be told.
This isn't just about the incredible skill poured into making our furniture. It's about getting to know people. By showing their personalities, learning about their lives, culture, family, hardships and what makes them happy, we recall our humanity and in a grander sense become more intimate with the world around us.
- Explorer Mike