Montreal brothers Byron and Dexter Peart have launched a marketplace for products framed on "good people, good design and good impact". Here they choose five that represent this vision.
Billed as a marketplace "where good design meets good purpose", Goodee is intended to enable makers and consumers to champion social impact, as the duo collates and curates an array of relevant products online.
Dexter and Byron launched the shop earlier this year with the mission statement:Â "Good people, good design and good impact".
Items include children's furniture made from recycled toys, Olafur Eliasson's pocket-sized solar lamp, Nanimarquina rugs, pillows made in collaboration with the United Nations, Emeco chairs, Tala lights and a range of natural beauty products.
The majority of products share common traits such as using recycled and natural materials, are made by family-owned businesses and involve the local community.
The twin brothers co-founded handbag brand Want Les Essentiels but left the company in 2017 to pursue other endeavours. They established Goodee to combat the "throw-away and trend dependent culture" they experienced during their time in fashion.
"After an exhilarating two decades in the centre of the fashion business, Dexter and I have more recently just felt more and more frustrated by the broken system – seasonality, markdowns, etc – and short-sighted values – throw-away and trend dependent culture," Byron told Dezeen.
"We were challenged to break the status quo and felt very motivated and passionate about providing a uniquely inspirational, aspirational and educational design destination enabling an engaged community of conscious consumers and impact-minded makers from around the globe to collectively call home," he said.
Byron and Dexter Peart select five products that best represent Goodee:
Eperara Siapidara Set of Six PET Lamps by ACdO
The lamps hanging in the Montreal pop-up are made from plastic bottles. They are created by artisans in Colombia, who weave wicker and plastic strips from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers to create colourful fixtures. Each is assembled in Spain and come in a variety of shapes, and help promote a circular economy by giving new life into what was previously waste.
"I fell in love with the PET lamps' colourful beauty right away," said Dexter. "Each one is an original artisan handcrafted design made from recycled plastic bottles," he added. "It's the perfect design solution for people and the planet."
Nanimarquina rugs
Nanimarquina's rugs are made around the world using different local crafts, colours and patterns. The company also supports Care & Fair, a European initiative that fights against child labour in the carpet industry.
"We have long been admirers of this premium Spanish rug making company's exceptional design, quality and social commitment, but we are equally drawn to the founder Nani Marquina’s unique story as a perpetually trailblazing designer and entrepreneur," said Byron.
"When we were commissioned to re-design the Matachica beach resort in Belize, we immediately jumped at the opportunity to reach out to them to collaborate on a custom range of eye-catching bright and natural, yet durable rugs for each of the beachfront casitas," he said.
"The Nomad series that we sourced is handwoven in Pakistan, with a commitment to child labour causes through the Care & Fair initiative, local community building and environmental friendliness are so perfectly aligned with the visions and ethos of both the resort and Goodee."
The Skateroom, Jean-Michel Basquiat "Trumpet", 1984
In addition to furniture and linens, Goodee also sells art and books. On display in the Montreal pop-up are skateboards with paintings by the late New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The boards are from social entrepreneurship The Skateroom, which uses art to empower youth.
"I am forever in awe and admiration of how socially relevant and visually timeless Basquiat’s work is," Byron said." It's unimaginable that this trailblazing artist/poet/activist once told his father: 'Only one thing worries me... longevity'."
Goodee pillows
Goodee also sells products that it designed in-house, like these pillows made by people in Africa with the Ethical Fashion Initiative of the International Trade Centre. The organisation is part of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, and aims to empower artisans around the world and connect them with retail opportunities.
"When deciding to create everyday home essentials that also act as decorative conversation starters, we purposefully developed our first Goodee collaboration with the UN’s Ethical Fashion Initiative working together with incredible artisan weavers and makers in Burkina Faso and Kenya," said Byron.
Ecobirdy
Ecobirdy makes children's furniture made from recycled plastic toys with chunky, playful shapes and lots of colours. The brand also has a book to teach kids how the pieces are produced.
"When we came across their collection of children's furniture made of recycled plastic toys, and were completely floored by their infectious passion, heightened design aesthetic and rigour to building a truly circular design company," Dexter said.
"If the collection wasn't enough to seal our love for these young makers, we were even further moved by their commitment to educating children, through not only the products but also the cutest children's book, to understand from such an early age how good design choices have the potential to change the world."
Photography is by Celia Spenard-Ko.