Ask insiders about the rising star of quality furniture and more often than not the name Camerich will come up. We spoke to the owners of the Marbella Flagship Store to find out why this is so.
In the case of the car industry it is Tesla which is shaking up the luxury segment, and in luxury furniture it is Camerich, an international brand that specialises in beautifully styled, built and finished sofas, chairs, tables, cupboards, beds, lights and also smaller decorative items and soft furnishings.
Sold through a network of showroom stores that display individual items of furniture or decoration available to buy as one-off pieces, the core of the offering is provided in sync with an accompanying interior design service that, while focused on Camerich products, also incorporates lighting, décor and even furniture elements from other brands and manufacturers.
This is evident in the realistic 3D renders produced on-site through the company’s advanced design system, for not only do they dress different rooms with incredible lifelike detail, allowing you to swap between colours, materials, textures, lighting effects and individual pieces, but they also incorporate third party decoration elements such as artwork.
Unbeatable Quality and Value
Seasoned professionals in European luxury furniture and decoration, Geoffrey Femont and Ivonne Galvan, know the market inside out and have worked with all the top brands, so they are well qualified to rate the international offering. For them, Camerich offers a very rational value-for-money proposition that is hard to beat and through its beautiful contemporary designs also speaks to the heart.
“When you can get the same standard of design for a significantly lower price the first thing you do is look for tell-tale signs of lower quality in manufacturing or inferior materials,” says Geoffrey. “The trained eye will usually find them soon enough, including lesser workmanship in structural details and upholstery that is not up to the best standards, but Camerich furniture defies this and withstands even the most intense scrutiny. Pound for pound, it offers excellent quality of design and execution, but at far more affordable prices.”
The brand has, therefore, consistently proved both its creative worth and build standard to offer an unbeatable combination of price and quality that amounts to market-leading value for money. “This forms the basis for Camerich’s rise as a new leading name in quality furniture and decoration,” says Ivonne, who loves using it in interior design projects. “We still mix and match with other brands as well, but decorating an apartment or villa with Camerich gives you so much freedom because you can let yourself go and don’t have to count each item you include because it weighs heavy on the overall budget.”
A Rising Star in Marbella
For this reason, Camerich has become popular with interior designers and architects as well as with homebuyers keen to decorate a property with style and top-end design but still keep the overall cost well below €100.000. “For many, especially people buying holiday apartments in Marbella, the rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t spend much beyond 10 per cent of the property price on decoration, and Camerich enables you to do it, and do it in style. For me it brings affordable design pieces in assembled furniture to the level of solid, high-quality décor, making designer pieces and interior design services totally affordable.”
Geoffrey and Ivonne are so impressed by what can be achieved with the elegant styling and beautiful finish of long-lasting Camerich furniture and décor that they have taken the Spanish exclusivity rights for this brand, which uses the finest American leather, environmentally sourced and certified wood, and top-quality Italian wool from Biella. What’s more, they have chosen to launch the flagship store in Spain here in Marbella. “The well-travelled, cosmopolitan people who live in and visit Marbella know Camerich well by now, and the brand fits perfectly with the lifestyle they enjoy here.”
Foreign residents and property owners in and around Marbella have not been slow to react, either because they already knew Camerich or have come to love the range and the fact that you can decorate an apartment in style for under €40.000. “Our interior design team works closely with our clients, many of whom buy off-plan, then plan the décor with us and return when everything is done and the property is ready to move into and enjoy,” says Geoffrey. Like the professional decorators they are, every project is snagged before delivery and the team is available for final post-delivery tweaks, but this is a furnishing and styling service within affordable reach.
The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating
When it comes to most sensory items, especially furniture, the ultimate proof is in the showroom, where you can not only look at the styling but also feel the materials and ‘test ride’ the comfort of cosseting sofas, fauteuils and beds – or rummage through the material proofs to look for the finishing and colour to best match the design pieces you like.
“A lot of interior designers do just that,” says Ivonne, “and they bring their clients here to look at the colour and material swatches and determine which combinations they want.” In such a case, it acts as a furniture store, but the interior design side of the business goes into full mode with commissioned residential decoration projects, as well as show homes for property developers, restaurants, hotels, offices and other commercial projects.
“Camerich is also an increasingly renowned brand in this field, chosen as the official decorator for the VIP sections of BMW showrooms in Germany, Belgium and China. “We are hoping to add Spain to the list, as we’re going to expand into the country, starting with a new showroom in Madrid, where the feedback to the combination of quality and price – as here in Marbella – has been phenomenal.”
WORDS MICHEL CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHY KEVIN HORN
Oasis Business Center, 2, CN340, Km 183, Marbella. Tel: 951 569 196.