Gordon and Suzie Tait in the Tait showroom.
Gordon Tait left school at 16 and went straight into the sheetmetal trade. He loved the work so much that after hours, he'd dabble in furniture making. When he lost his job in the early 90's, his bosses were kind enough to let him go with some machinery and a couple of small clients as a type of redundancy. He and wife Suzie (a textile designer) rented a factory in Fitzroy, Melbourne - living in the teeny flat above it - and Tait was born.
Today, Tait is one of the most exciting furniture brands out of Australasia, with a stable of insanely cool products, all commissioned by partner designers and manufactured - from prototype to final product - in the Tait factory. aaaaaaaaaaai bloody love it.
I am obsessed with the Volley rocker - that expanded mesh, those wooden rockers, those colours...
Designed by Adam Goodrum for Tait.
Hi Gordon! Tell us the story of Tait…
I started Tait as a solo venture in 1992. When Suzie joined Tait with our new baby, Lily, in tow a few years later, we had one offsider. As the business grew, we found ourselves having to wear many different hats and we had little time for designing...
We liked the model of European brand Cappelini, where the manufacturer engages the designers to design the product and the manufacturer makes and markets the product. This is how Tait engage external designers and this model has worked so well for everyone and become an integral part of bringing a new Tait product to market.
Good One stools, table and bench seat,
designed by NZ's Alastair Keating!
The buzz of working through from concept to prototypes, then brainstorming with the Tait team to how best put the product into production is just so satisfying.
Our first external designer was Justin Hutchinson, in 2008 he designed our best selling Jak+Jil product. In 2009 Ross Gardam designed Flint. In 2010 I was in New Zealand and came across Al Keating's Good One Stool. We now make this product under licence and have extended the range to include tables and bench seats. Then came Adam Goodrum, firstly he designed the Airliner range for us in 2010 and in 2012 the Volley range of tables and chairs.
What are you working on at the moment?
Always working on new product! Some designs come together more easily than others but generally we aim to release a couple of new items each year, it’s what gets us up in the morning.
Keep an eye on our Breeze Sofa as we are adding to that range this year, amongst other things...
Breeze Sofa
What has been the hands-down highlight of Tait so far?
Creating a product like Jak+Jil with designer, Justin Hutchinson then seeing it sell and sell and sell. It’s a thrill to have a product widely accepted by peers and the general public, then perform so well, people keep coming back for more. 
Jak+Jil, designed by Justin Hutchinson
What was the last thing you saw/did or experienced that got you really creatively excited?
Easy – the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the MCA in Sydney. We were incredibly excited when we heard it was coming to Australia and it certainly didn’t disappoint. In fact we need to go again!
Life goal: light up brand sign
Behind the scenes at the Tait factory. Thanks for the photos, Gordon!
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