2 December 2016

Copenhagen Insight: At the headquarters of beauty label Tromborg

Sitting at airports can be boring. It's a place where 'slow movement' is the only chance to escape from the stress of waiting. But it had a good reason why Fashionoffice made the journey and took the airplane from Vienna to Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. The reason was a report directly from the home base of the Danish beauty label Tromborg. Fashionoffice was invited by the founders and owners of the brand to get an insight into their creative space and lifestyle in Copenhagen.

The whole arrangement of the first meeting was rather personal than an official press conference normally is. After arriving at the airport, the come together of selected media, Tromborg team members and the three owners of Tromborg happened at restaurant 'Geist' at the public square Kongens Nytorv. The restaurant is one of the favorite addresses of the Tromborg team. The dishes are light and have an experimental touch. It's as much on the plate as necessary to experience the culinary creation. We sat at a big round table and mixed personal stories with professional talk. The dialogue changed steadily and alongside to Creative Director Michael Wendt's story about his place of birth (Tyrol in Austria) and his life which led him to Denmark, he spoke about his time as fashion photographer and how he came in contact with make up artist Marianne Tromborg who founded in 2003 the beauty label together with him after her vision of beauty. In 2006, Marianne Tromborg and Michael Wendt were joined by Marianne's husband, the biochemist Tim Schyberg. Tim is responsible for the formulas of the make up creations which are composed after the direction of Marianne, the fragrances with focus on the psychological and physiological effects of scents on the mind and the ingredients on the body, and last but not least the third category of the Tromborg product range - the treatments which are the favorite field of Tim who researches continuously on the environment and new textures such as the usage of natural ingredients from nature and their power to act against skin damages caused by pollution. Some of the products needed several years of research and development processes; others became in relatively short time market-ready face or body creams, hair care, scrubs or oils. Currently, Tim Schyberg works on a new cream. The upcoming cream will be an extraordinary treatment. The product will be more expensive in relation to the average Tromborg price range. Tromborg products - such as the make up, body creams or skin cleansers are not cheap - but they count in the high-end beauty segment to the affordable ones. The new product will be launched next year on occasion of the market entry into the Middle-East. Currently, the Copenhagen headquartered label is especially active in the North of Europe (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland), Hong Kong, Germany and Austria (exclusively at Kussmund).

But back to the story line - the restaurant and the informal press meeting with the owners of Tromborg at the big round table. In a conversation with Michael Wendt about art, product design, the specialties of Danish design, Tromborg's creative director explained his approach to the visual expression of the beauty label. The purist straight forms, the very clean looking visual language of Tromborg (showcases at counters - such as at the image below, packaging,...) is inspired by Bauhaus, apothecary bottles of the 1920s and the signature Danish design tradition. The outer look is like a neutral carrier of the beauty vision of Marianne Tromborg - the label's name giver, the spirit of the treatments, the colorist of the make up and the nose of the line which is perfumed with organic ingredients of plants and reflects a lively earth with mood boosting scents that let the mind travel along sunny sand beaches and evoke the impression of a fresh sea breeze. The fragrance line's concept can be compared with an olfactory keyboard; the fragrances can be layered and mixed individually after personal desires.

fig. from left: The first image shows Marianne Tromborg in front of the fragrance collection on 1 December 2016 at the Tromborg showroom at the headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. Marianne could almost be named an environmental activist. For the lines (fragrance, treatments, make up), she focuses on environmentally friendly production and implemented the sustainable approach even into her concept for the make up line: the colors don't change with seasonal trends. They are developed to enhance the natural and fresh look of the wearer's individual skin tone.

The press talk was continued at the showroom of Tromborg which is located in a building nearby Palace Amalienborg (home of the Danish royal family) in an 18th century baroque apartment with contemporary furniture.

Tim Schyberg spoke about the development of treatments such as the Anti Pollution Serum.

Tromborg co-founder Michael Wendt is responsible for the visual communication such as the design of the packaging, logo, printed catalogues as well as digital publications.

fig. below: Snapshot of the Tromborg counter at the department store Magasin at the public square Kongens Nytorv.

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