About Us

Us & Coutumes

 

WHEN we founded Us & Coutumes in 2013, we had been working together for a year, trying to understand what we could do to bring home furnishings one step further. Why home furnishings? Maybe because it reflects who we are as designers and users. Probably because it is a good medium of expression. We had had frustrating experiences before (Vincent selling and designing hi-end furniture for the wealthiest and Jean struggling as an entrepreneur to bring his ideas to the market while trying to keep costs low) and we didn’t see ourselves designing just another table while attempting to have some media talk about us while we would cash some money selling 4000$ furniture. No, not for us. And let’s be honest,; there’s lot of unnecessary stuff in home furnishings and it is certainly a field of consumer goods that could benefit from some wiser habits of consumptions (cheap ‘’trash it in a year’’ furniture anyone?). So we knew we wanted to build a project around home furnishings but what should we do exactly?
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The answer came when we realized that furniture hasn’t quite followed the evolution of us. We look at magazines that sells 10 foot long dining table while condos and apartments get smaller and smaller. We pay big bucks for gadgety furniture that fold in half while being a bed, a sofa and a desk at the same time but it is really difficult to find well design simple furniture whose proportions fits smaller spaces. We pretend to buy local but relish when we have to pay what its really worth because we have become used to pay 29,99$ for a coffee table. And we, as designers, tend to design stuff following strict principles but does it really ring a bell for consumers, users? All of this made the choice of our company name quite obvious : it would have to challenge received ideas while interest in ways of using things would be place at the forefront of what we do. In french Us & Coutumes means usage and customs. It does sound pretty traditional and that is perfect like that because we intend to be just the opposite : unconventional and open to change.

Welcome to Us & Coutumes!

Who we are

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Vincent Cloutier
Co-founder, Industrial designer

Curious by nature, Vincent Cloutier is the industrial designer and responsible for communications at Us & Coutumes. His experience in retail et furniture design are a major asset in developing new products and bringing ideas to the market.

 

 

 

Jean Darveau
Co-founder, technical director

Jean Darveau is what you could call a jack of all trades. He is our technical expert and production manager at Us & Coutumes. He’s also an important part of products design and development as well as in our constant research for new ideas and fabrication processes.