DON Furniture

DON Furniture was one of the largest furniture brands in New Zealand during the mid-20th century. In the 1960s DON was at the peak of its popularity with a primetime TV advert proclaiming “Don brings you the cool, clear line of international design”. It’s a beautifully shot commercial, featuring the Scandinavian style ‘Danart’ lounge suite with a backing track of smooth sultry saxophone.

The DON brand was owned by Felt & Textiles of New Zealand Ltd (later Feltex). In the early 1960s, Feltex also acquired the popular Vono and Cintique brands from B.L. Hart & Co. This gave Feltex a considerable advantage in the wholesale furniture market as they could cover a broad range of buyers. Cintique for the traditional, conservative buyers, DON and Vono for the younger contemporary audience.

The 1960s was a golden age for DON furniture. New Zealand had introduced strict import restrictions in the late 50s to protect and promote local industry, this allowed DON to quickly gain market dominance. Through efficiencies of scale, DON was able to produce high-quality furniture at very affordable prices, effectively growing the market for modern furniture.

One of the unfortunate outcomes was that large makers like DON focused on growing their market share through advertising and mass production, not by investing in original design. It was more efficient and less risky to just copy successful products from other local and international makers, ultimately stifling furniture creativity in New Zealand during the 60s and 70s.

A common strategy also used by Feltex (which can often confuse collectors) was allowing the DON, Vono and Cintique labels to be shared across the same range of furniture designs, this allowed popular ranges to be sold to competing retailers who only had representation of one brand.

Today, the DON brand is ‘world famous in New Zealand’ with an enduring legacy of well-crafted and elegant mid-century furniture. DON was pivotal in promoting and popularising the modern aesthetic to a generally conservative New Zealand audience and will continue to be loved and appreciated by future generations.

Check out the classic 1960s Don TV commercial to see the brand in action.