OPENINGS

US high-end furnishing giant RH The Gallery opens in Düsseldorf

Many star guests at Königsallee 17

By Lizzie Fedi

Königsalle 17, the former location of Abercrombie Fitch ©RH

Düsseldorf, 16. November 2023: This week, RH Gallery opened its Düsseldorf flagship store on the Kö, naturally with many exquisite guests. RH describes itself as a curator of design, taste and style in the luxury lifestyle market and is a billion-dollar interior & design empire from the USA. In 2023, the company started to expand into Europe and opened Galleries - as RH's flagship stores are called - in London, Munich, Madrid and Brussels. Since 2012, the company Restoration Hardware has been renamed RH. The RH Gallery can now be found right next to the Breidenbacher Hof in the former Abercrombie Fitch property.

Who was there?

Tina Müller, former CEO of Douglas, beauty entrepreneur and doctor Dr Barbara Sturm, Mayor Josef Hinkel and Peter Wienen, Chairman of the Kö residents' interest group. In addition, neighbour Cyrus Heydarian, Director of Breidenbacher Hof, designer Sandro Rath and Luca Bazzanella, Thomas Rath Group & member of the Fashion Net board. Journalist Nena Brockhaus. Andreas Kraemer, Managing Director of Juwelier Rüschenbeck Düsseldorf and his wife Sepideh, designer Kathrin Bommann and art historian Patricia Wirschke from Modehaus Wirschke. Artists were also present, star artist Leon Löwentraut and Mischa Kuball (we reported on his artwork missing link_)

What is behind it

The listed high-end furnishing giant RH achieved an annual turnover of over 3 billion dollars in 2023. CEO Gary Friedmann is credited with turning around the company, which was on the brink of bankruptcy when he joined in 2001.

RH's style is described as boldly American. European expansion is now apparently on the cards. In the world of interiors, the opening of an EH furniture gallery in a magnificent 17th century manor house in the Cotswolds made headlines.

Why RH?

In his statement, Gary Friedmann writes that time is the ultimate luxury. In a world of dupes, fast fashion and fakes, it would be hard to control your time and who or what you can trust. That's why they wanted to create a platform of leading designers and manufacturers.

The space RH is moving into is beautiful and prestigious, but Düsseldorf is a market with prominent, well-connected interior designers and numerous luxury interior brands already have their own showrooms in the city.

"This is not a hotel. This is our house and you are our guest."

However, the concept of RH seems to go further. Not only is the name Gallery inspired by the world of art, RH has its own departments for aeroplanes and yachts, as well as restaurants. There is also an RH Guesthouse in New York. The description reads: "This is not a hotel. This is our house and you are our guest." All of this sounds extremely creative. So it will be interesting to see how the RH Gallery hopes to impress Düsseldorfers in the future.

By Lizzie Fedi