our story

“Was Droog Design a generation of young designers? That’s what it appeared to be. Or was it a movement? Not really. A collective, perhaps? A label? A manifesto? It was none of the above and all of them at once, but never at the same moment – certainly not for the long term.” – Wim Pijbes in  “Renny Ramakers – Rethinking Design”  by Aaron Betsky, 2019.

It all started in 1993 when art historian Renny Ramakers and designer Gijs Bakker presented a collection of works from a group of young Dutch designers at the Salone del Mobile in Milan under the name ‘Droog’. Ramakers and Bakker had noticed a fresh trend in design in the use of everyday, recycled materials, combined with a down-to-earth mentality. The designs where simple yet humoristic – literally ‘dry’; ‘Droog’ in Dutch.

Since then, we worked together with numerous designers, launched innovative projects such as Dry Tech, Do Create and Design for Download. We organized events, dinners and festivals, we published books, we had shops in New York, Hong Kong and Las Vegas and carried out projects and exhibitions all over the world, from India to Senegal, from China to New Zealand. Many of the designs from the Droog collection are icons nowadays. With Droog, Dutch Design has a place on the map for good.

Over the years, Droog became less about things and more about ideas. In 2012, we opened Hôtel Droog in de Staalstraat in the center of Amsterdam. A hotel with a twist. There was  only one bedroom, the courtyard is not outside, the flowers in the garden are artificial, and the lobby is actually an art gallery. It was the start of what Droog is today: @droog, a place where you can shop, eat, drink, work, meet and think. A place where creative minds meet and where ideas for the future flourish.