Founded by members of the same clan, Kann was born from a family know-how. The story begins in Lebanon, in Houssam Kanaan’s father’s carpentry, nestled in the small village of Beit-Chabab. It is here that the future founder of Kann studio grows up and develops his taste for creation with his father, a cabinetmaker by trade. It is also here that his furniture will be manufactured a few years later. But the project is not alone in this family passionate about crafts. Houssam is joined by his wife, Meghedi Simonian, his brother Samer Kanaan and his friend Rudy Bou Chebel.
The publisher and furniture manufacturer now sells his creations in more than twenty-five countries. His latest collection? Innovative sofa designs in collaboration with Charles Kalpakian. With a total control of its production line, Kann imposes its style between minimalist design and functionalism.
Meeting with a multigenerational studio.
What is the Kann signature?
« The DNA of the brand is inextricably linked to the family workshop in Lebanon and it’s that core fiber of cabinetry that makes up our history. Now there are welders, painters, canners etc. that are really on the inside. »
How do we work as a couple?
« It’s not always easy. We had to find a balance between intimate life and professional life, make sure that professional life didn’t take up all the space. »
Form, fonction or fantasy ?
« We’re all about simple forms at Kann. And we place a lot of importance on function. »
Your creative desires of the moment?
« Imagining sofas. We’ve launched the Cut sofa, the Timber sofa and we’re working on a next one for 2023. »
The history of the Timber with Charles Kalpakian ?
« Charles is a designer we’ve been following for a while who had made a collection for an indie gallery in Lebanon. His furniture was made in our workshops in Lebanon. We had an important demand for sofas and so we decided to collaborate together. The wooden structure in the collection stands out with the comfort of the fabrics. »
What influenced your taste?
« My maternal grandfather wanted to build a big house and my father did all the carpentry, hence this passion for wood. My grandfather traveled a lot and passed on to my father and me the taste for the design of other countries so that today we don’t propose products with a completely Lebanese style but rather something without labels, multi-cultural.
Your favorite subject?
« We also like to venture out and experiment. But of course we’re more comfortable in the woods. »
What kind of wood do you work with?
« At the moment it’s a lot of French oak. We really like the effect of the stain on it, it absorbs the varnish in a way we like. The grain comes out marked. We’ve been seeing it for three years now. It started with the Galta collection and the Tal collection and now with the Timber sofas. »
Your culture heritage?
« I used to live next door to the workshop with my parents. I love the culture of the craftsmen’s life, that solidarity, that way of life that my father had. »
2 Instagram accounts to follow?
A designer who inspires you?
Three pieces to find on leboncoin?
« Decorative vases, a table by Arne Jacobsen and a vintage chair by Charles Eames. »
What color inspires you?
« Green. Since we did the Tal chairs I think it’s an interesting color. »
A film set ?
« The Shining by Stanley Kubrick.»
An inspiring place?
« Le bal, a third place around the image in the eighteenth district, in Paris. »
A landmark?
« Beit-Chabab, my childhood village which means ″the house of the young″. It is a village where there are a huge number of craftsmen. There is the last craftsman who makes bells, others who make knives, vases with the red earth from there…. «
