We were lucky to catch up with Spencer Fried recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Spencer thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Sam and I, both architects by training, started Remsen because we saw that the essential things our loved ones needed as they aged routinely failed them — not because they didn’t work, but because they didn’t bring any joy, pride or beauty. Instead of celebrating age, these objects tended to be sterile and cheap — medical devices, not designed objects. Remsen intends to shift perspectives on aging through the design of these everyday goods. We believe that as you age, you should want the things you need. Getting older shouldn’t mean changing who we are.
We were both fortunate enough to grow up surrounded by multiple generations of family, and we saw just how underwhelming the products our grandparents needed and used everyday were. They were pessimistic — no appreciation for the fact that our sense of style and appreciation of beauty doesn’t go anywhere with age. This shared insight shaped Remsen’s mission: to craft beautiful premium products that address a market often overlooked by the design industry. People are not patients, and we are past seeing age and disability as something to fear or solve for.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Remsen is a new lifestyle brand redefining aging through the design of timeless everyday goods — because great design knows no age. Developed and crafted by architects with experience at Herzog & de Meuron and Post Company, the products are designed to address the needs of an aging population while elevating daily life with inclusive, beautifully designed home goods.
Through a design approach that blends expertise, empathy and compassion, Remsen brings to life products that serve as compelling visual statements while embodying a commitment to enhancing lives. Mindful of transcending age and ableness barriers, each product stands as a testament to inclusive design.

Remsen is redesigning the products we all need as we get older — shower chair, cane, grab bar and more — by taking pieces that have been historically categorized as geriatric products and re-envisioning them as luxury home goods.

Remsen is founded on the simple belief that beauty is for all ages. For too long, if you were not young and able-bodied, your needs were treated through a medical lens. Up until now, objects have been engineered solely to pacify ailments, and the currently available products are far from aspirational. Remsen is seeing people for who they are and want to be, not as patients, and strives to provide products that reflect a life well-lived.

The brand has launched its first two products, the Pill Container and the Grab Bar. Both products embody Remsen’s mission of combining functionality and beauty to create pieces that you can be proud to display in your home.

The Pill Container is a stunningly minimal cast aluminum object with a mirrored underside and a secure, sculptural arrangement of compartments organized according to the days of the week. Every element of this pill box, from its ergonomic design to its practicality and aesthetic allure, has been thoughtfully considered to transform a mere routine into a meaningful ritual.

Unlike its cumbersome counterparts, Remsen’s Grab Bar is an elegant and welcome addition to a tastefully conceived powder room or bathroom. This fixture, with its polished nickel finish and its stainless steel mounting hardware, caters as much in its functionality as it does in its ability to amplify an interior design vision. While other offerings blatantly and obtrusively compromise the spaces they occupy, this piece enriches any surface and room it graces.

Remsen’s subsequent suite of genre-redefining products will include the Cane, Shower Chair, Key Turn and Playing Card Set and Card Holder.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I have lots of experience designing hotels and restaurants and I designed and coordinated the fabrication of a lot of those custom fixtures and pieces of furniture respective of those projects so I THOUGHT I had experience in manufacturing. But manufacturing in large quantities and producing them for luxury retail is a different beast altogether. There was a massive learning curve and manufacturing can be an elusive and opaque field. I however sought out founders and business owners who were selling products of a similar scale and materiality. Thankfully they were generous with their time and the compilation of those conversations was the insight I needed. My design background was still helpful too because I could not only envision the products intended for the REMSEN catalog, but I could also draft, model, and render them. It made coordination with our factories much easier and more cost effective. Being a founder with technical ability is definitely advantageous.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The two podcasts that have been each a lifeline and well of knowledge are Founders with David Senra and How I Built This with Guy Raz. Being a founder can be a lonely journey and a rollercoaster of emotions. Sometimes you’ve never felt more inspired and other times you feel incredibly disheartened. But it’s important to know that you’re not the only person who has ever gone through this process. And there are people that you should refer to! These two podcasts are a direct line to these kinds of folk.

Contact Info:

• Website: remsen.co
• Instagram: @remsen.co
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencerfried/

Image Credits
Courtesy of REMSEN