The KOK family ran a basketry and rattan furniture business in the Netherlands and was already exporting part of its production to France in the early 20th century. It was a turbulent time, with the 1929 crisis shaking up trade. Sales opportunities in France were jeopardised by prohibitive customs duties. The need to move closer to the French market became clear. Pierre KOK, one of the brothers in the family, decided to settle in France in the years 1920–1925.
‘La Vannerie Hollandaise’, the name of the first company, set up shop in northern France. Thanks to the support of his brothers who had remained in the Netherlands, the supply of raw materials was secured. The factory supplied baskets to the nearby textile industry and the first woven chairs to pedlars who sold them at markets throughout France.
The ‘Marcel’ armchair, a testament to that era, remains one of KOK MAISON’s bestsellers to this day.
The company expanded and, in the 1950s and 1960s, employed around 150 staff, not including home-based workers, who were still very common at the time. The company was now known as ‘KOK et Cie’ and sold its products throughout France, as well as in most of Paris’s department stores. This was the era of the natural rattan ‘shell’ armchair, which we reissued at KOK MAISON in 2015 under the name ‘Brigitte’ armchair, in a vintage style.
Pierre KOK’s daughter, Annie—who began her career at a very young age working alongside her father—and her husband would breathe new life into the collection from the 1960s and 1970s onwards, riding the wave of exotic trends. Inspired designers began offering chairs made from ‘Philippine cane’ – an elegant name for a type of rattan from which the bark has been removed and which can be dyed. Shapes became more fluid, forms more generous, colours more vibrant, and plush cushions were covered in multicoloured fabrics featuring tropical patterns. Rattan furniture found its way into the home: bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms… It became a piece of furniture in its own right.
In the 1975–1980 period, various external factors in international politics were to revolutionise the rattan furniture industry in Europe. Rising labour costs in France, but above all the freeze on raw material exports from Indonesia, forced all players in the industry to relocate production to Asia. Globalisation was well and truly underway! We faced several challenges: gradually encouraging our raw material suppliers to produce finished goods and progressively scaling back manufacturing in France, whilst retaining control over our designs.
The company took the name KOK DIFFUSION, and Tina Lédi, the founder’s granddaughter, and her husband went on to shape the business in their own image. Discovering artisans in these distant lands who had mastered the ancient craft of weaving, as well as a variety of other natural materials, inspired them to develop new collections with a more charming aesthetic: rattan bark weaving known as ‘Eclisse’, paper string weaving known as ‘Loom’, grey rattan weaving in a wicker style known as ‘Kooboo gris’, and finally the development of synthetic rattan or ‘Resin’, which perfectly imitates the natural material but whose technical properties allow for outdoor use.
For over 30 years, they have been developing lightweight, sturdy and comfortable wicker furniture that has found its place in conservatories, holiday homes and now in gardens, thanks to its rot-proof materials.
The story doesn’t end there: Tina Ledi’s daughter, Marion, has now joined the company by launching the ORCHID EDITION project, which embodies this spirit of passing on and continuing the family legacy. It has been conceived and developed for the new generation, offering a range of designer rattan furniture created in collaboration with French designers…
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