The history of Rifyo started way back in the 1960s. Erwin Manan established a business making wooden furniture in 1963. His son, Robert, Robert’s wife Fify, continues his love of high-quality furniture through a brand they founded in 2012, Rifyo. The company was founded based on their dream of creating and supplying Indonesia with beautiful, original, sustainable, and useful design for home, work, and beyond. Given that passion, and that history, it’s no wonder that Rifyo’s collaboration with MillerKnoll is such a great match.
A leading global collective of brands, MillerKnoll is the product of a merger between Herman Miller and Knoll in 2021. Both Herman Miller and Knoll were already well-known in the design world, each with longstanding legacies of their own. And it was these legacies that made their union possible in the first place; along with their mutual commitment to innovative design that elevates the environments we live, work, and play in. Now, that dedication extends across every brand in the collective.
On 2 May 2024, the partnership between Rifyo and MillerKnoll was launched at Rifyo Design Quarter in Kemang, South Jakarta. Three neon booths welcomed guests on the ground floor, displaying the brands under MillerKnoll that are carried or soon-to-be carried by Rifyo, and the design philosophy as well as production values that both companies believe in. The iconic Barcelona Chair from Knoll was displayed at one of the booths. Before the event started, Nayana Natarajan, MillerKnoll’s Contract Marketing & Program Manager India & SE Asia, took Indonesia Design for a brief tour across the ground and 2nd floor, where MillerKnoll products were displayed.
The event started with a presentation about “Design with Impact” by Tatiana Gomez, MillerKnoll’s Lead Workplace Strategist & Consultant for Asia & Middle East. The room was filled with Indonesian interior designers and architects.
After the insightful presentation, Fify Manan, President & CEO at Rifyo Group, gave a welcome speech. “It’s our mission to set a new design standard in Indonesia. We have always been dedicated to bringing authentic, innovative, luxury furniture to the region, and this continues to be our focus,” said Fify. “We believe design should be not only beautiful, but also useful, and that it should stand the test of time. That’s why this partnership with MillerKnoll feels so aligned. We’re very excited for this next phase of our relationship.”
Kartik Shethia, Managing Director, APMEA, for MillerKnoll, took the stage right after. “Herman Miller has long had a presence in Indonesia. Now that it’s part of MillerKnoll, we want to expand what we’re able to offer to this market, so that we can deliver a comprehensive selection of premium design pieces for home, office, hospitality spaces and more,” said Kartik Shethia, Managing Director, APMEA, for MillerKnoll.
“Indonesia holds a significant position in the region, it has the largest population in the region and it’s growing rapidly. A lot of foreign businesses are establishing a foothold here as a result. It has huge potential,” Shethia added.
The event then continued with “tumpengan”, an Indonesian traditional ceremony, to mark the launch of MillerKnoll X Rifyo. Afterwards, dinner took place on the Mezzanine floor, where everybody mingled with live music in the background, and ended with a lucky draw.