MOVERS & SHAKERS
modern spin, the new generation of the Norman family is pushing the business to new heights. Today, as well as ordering online, customers can browse the range at Harrods, making Edelweiss the first pianos this prestigious department store has stocked since closing its piano department in 2013. “I think Harrods decided to run with Edelweiss because we’re different”, muses Ross. “We appeal to the millennial generation, piano players and interior designers. We are flexible and our pianos can be adapted to any specification, or any interior in the world. They told us, ‘You clearly are the pianos of the future’ – they don’t want anything that’s stuck in the now, they want companies that are looking ahead and moving with trends. We’re absolutely at the front of the curve.” The Harrods buyers aren’t the only ones impressed by Edelweiss’ music- making objets d’art. In fact, the brand is something of a favourite with celebrities, too, Ross tells me, citing Lady Gaga, Sia and Claudia Schiffer as recent happy customers. “But whoever it is, it doesn’t really matter to us,” he’s quick to add. “We treat everybody exactly the same.”
The 2019 collection offers ten new colours, including the Pantone Colour of the Year, Living Coral. But the show- stealer is, without a doubt, the Elmer. Named in honour of the colourful patchwork elephant, it’s unapologetically bold, bright and mould-breaking – much like Edelweiss as a company. While we chat, Ross likens the company to a brand like Aston Martin in the car world, in the sense that they’re “continually stepping it up to the next level, constantly getting better and getting sleeker, but never losing the core appeal of being a top quality product”. But as I explore the workshop and get a live demo of a self-playing piano, transparent and illuminated from within by colour-changing LEDS, I can’t help but think the brand shares more in common with Tesla, given their zeal for innovation – something that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. “The future is exciting. Very, very exciting,” enthuses Ross. “I’m not allowed to discuss them yet, but the new innovations we will be launching early next year are going to transform the market again…”
However dazzling the technology or fantastical the designs, for Ross, it comes down to the simple pleasure of owning an instrument and bringing joy into people’s homes. “We believe pianos are about more than just music – they’re about the lifestyle surrounding them and the enjoyment. It’s about bringing happiness into an interior, and wherever you are in the world, whatever your interior looks like, we will be there with a piano completely unique to you, which you’ve designed yourself: your piano.”
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ISSUE 02
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