Fast Company today announced its annual ranking of the world’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Design for 2015, honoring leading enterprises and rising newcomers that exemplify the best in business and design. Be Original Americas was named on the list along with Charter Member Herman Miller and 30 Weeks, Ammunition Group, Code and Theory, Gumroad, Ikea, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Beyers, Michael Graves Architecture & Design and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. This honor was passed along to the more than 60 media sponsors, VIPs and Be Original Americas’ members attending the first Annual Members Meeting, held at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on February 5th 2015.

Most Innovative Companies is one of Fast Company’s most significant and highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. The magazine’s editors spend months gathering and analyzing data on companies around the globe.


antoine roset

In response to the recognition, Antoine Roset, President, Be Original Americas (and Executive Vice President, Roset USA Corporation) noted, “Being part of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Design is great recognition for Be Original Americas. Innovation is what drives our industry, and Be Original Americas is there to share all of the values that make an original product a better product; even a safer product. This acknowledgement represents one more step against copies and knockoffs, as we continue and intensify our mission of informing, educating and influencing individuals and organizations on why supporting authentic design is critical for our economy, our environment and our ethics as a society. If we don’t value and protect authentic design, what is design’s future?”

above> caroline baumann below> jerry helling

Caroline Baumann, Director of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, introduced outgoing Be Original Americas President Jerry Helling (and President and Creative Director, Bernhardt Design) who, along with other Charter Members, addressed the significant progress of the movement and the organization’s plans for the future. The meeting announced the election of new Officers and Board Members, upcoming events, and the creation of related CEU courses for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC), set to be completed by May.

[ Be Original Americas ] is committed to initiating discussion on the importance and value of preserving original design across the Americas, through informational, educational and influential marketing initiatives and other efforts to promote this critical issue.

Be Original charter members – including Alessi, Artek, Bernhardt Design, Emeco, Flos, Fritz Hansen, Herman Miller®, Ligne Roset, Poltrona Frau Group and Vitra – believe that the value of authenticity cannot be underestimated or taken for granted in the marketplace. Through an aggressive program of lectures, workshops and round-tables, the movement campaigns to establish a set of industry standards that encourages public and professionals, along with our media partners, to fully support creativity and authenticity, to invest in the future of design, to incentivize innovation, and to give back to the industry and the people it serves.

FC’s Most Innovative Companies March 2015 issue is now available [ online ] as well as in app form via iTunes, and on newsstands beginning 17 February. Photography by Federica Carlet.



above> knockoffi of fritz hansen’s series 7 chair designed by arne jacobsen seen in tokyo tower. [ see original ] [ see more not original ]