Alona Klaro, founder of K.I.D, speaks from personal experience for all facets of her exciting brand, which began life only three years ago. As a trained sculptor and interior architect, she knows a thing or two about style, space and materiality. Combine those skills with experience in workplace interiors and the right mix for K.I.D is self-evident.

Klaro felt that she could see a gap in the market for wholesale office furniture. Crucially, however, the point is that the wholesale is combined with genuine design intent. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all designer. In a landscape that can at times find itself oversaturated with cookie-cutter design, the presence of diverse, agile designers has to have positive effects in the form responsiveness.

“I felt that a personalised approach would work,” says Klaro. “We’re very much in tune with the requirements of architects and designers, who we see on a regular basis. It all gets fed back into our design, which then becomes a benefit to our clients — it’s all about having a holistic approach.”

Environmental care forms an important pillar for K.I.D’s work, particularly in the materials it uses. For example, recycled HDPE plastic is currently being used, having been collected from local hair salons and donations from the general public. “The thinking behind it is to raise the value of by-products in order to divert them from simply becoming landfill. As technology progresses, we’re able to put our ideas into practice,” explains Klaro. 

The local dimension hinted at in this environmental focus is no less important. The new showroom is located in Enmore in a part of Sydney renowned for its local producers — “a wonderful area with endless inspiration,” as Klaro puts it. One of K.I.D’s longer term goals is to manufacture more and more locally, while the general integration with the surroundings is part of a philosophy that understands the importance of having a space to show the designed objects in use.

Visiting a showroom means being able to touch, see and use objects. It’s part of the wider philosophy that refuses homogeneity, arguing that commercial fit-outs should not have to forego personalised, quality design. Again, it comes back — as do most good design stories — to Klaro’s personal journey.

“I think a lot of things have come together to give me an eye for detail, an understanding of shape, volume and geometry, how items might sit in space, project requirements and so on,” she adds. Various perspectives are at play, from interior architect and manufacturer to client and designer.

The culmination is a showroom that is integrated into the local design community and provides the opportunity to use the products. Indeed, Klaro explains how she “wanted to show a little bit of the chaos that comes with using a workspace.” She continues: “I wanted to make sure that we show furniture while it’s being used, and that’s why we call this space a studio as well.”

K.I.D is defining itself through a personalised approach that values the local and emphasises environmental care. It embodies a gesture away from the bland, homogenised office, instead making a statement that having a commercial workplace fit-out does not mean missing out on good design.

Klaro Industrial Design
klarodesign.com.au

Photography
Courtesy of K.I.D

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