CGD23

With more than 160 years in business, Moser has become a symbol of stability and the highest quality. It is a trustworthy brand perfect for more conservative customers who enjoy tradition, meticulous craft and status which are hallmarks of their expensive vases. In many ways Moser bet much on its history, but the company recently decided to also appeal to contemporary customers and get more spring in their step. New blood flows in the collection Duše lesa (Soul of the Forest) which Moser has presented at last year’s Designblok and which indicates the brand’s future direction.

Two years ago, Moser decided to give the position of creative director to Jan Plecháč, recipient of numerous Czech Grand Design awards and designer for world-class brands such as the Danish Menu, the Italian Cappellini or the Czech brands Bomma and Lasvit. He had one job – to make this traditional, Czech glassworks into a confident and modern world brand and chart a vision for its future. The choice of an unorthodox and original designer who is not afraid to experiment was a bold move, but it definitely paid off. Jan Plecháč jumped at the opportunity with immense energy but also with responsibility to the brand. Like an archeologist, he delved deep into the past to uncover and excavate the brand’s hidden layers and its essence which lay under the eclectic collections of the past decade. And from this realization of the brand’s own essence, Plecháč and Moser started building the brand’s identity with confidence and vision. This archeological research and analysis took nine months, but it was essential for fostering the closest possible connection between the artistic director and his brand. Moser managed to find the right person for fulfilling its future, and Jan Plecháč found an ambitious challenge and a partner for his creative drive.

Their first joint project was the Abyss collection, and it was obvious that the new creative director took his job very seriously. The matte, brutalist vase blown from a twenty-five-kilogram lump of glass has become a symbol of the glassworks’ new direction founded on the connection of tradition with contemporary trends in glass and art. A few months later at the Designblok festival, Moser received acclaim from an international jury for the Best Installation by Producer and Jan Plecháč presented nine new collections – each with its own story, unique design, a masculine or feminine morphology but which still complemented each other. One of these is the Duše lesa which appeals to true values, nature and hand craft, and explores the intense connection between nature and humanity in combination with natural structures and shapes, earth tones and fine craftsmanship. It shows the subtle beauty of pinecones, mushroom spores and tree bark, but also communicates a close connection to modern art through the illustrations of Michal Bačák. Luxury is typical for Moser, but in the Duše lesa collection it gallantly takes a back seat to the archetypal, intimate beauty which has the power to move everyone. This is the path which Moser has been travelling with Plecháč, and we want to go along with them.

Michaela Kádnerová