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Erik Torstensson - Co-Founder, FRAME
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My guest today is Erik Torstensson, the visionary co-founder of Frame one of the most influential fashion brands of our time. A true powerhouse in fashion, branding, and creative direction, Erik has redefined modern style, building a brand that embodies effortless sophistication and timeless design. But beyond Frame, Erik is a collector at heart—a lover of art, design, and objects that tell a story.
From childhood curiosities growing up in Sweden to carefully curated pieces of furniture, ceramics, and art, Erik’s collections reflect a deeply personal sensibility rooted in heritage, durability, and sentiment. Whether it’s a Pol Chambost ceramic, a Svenskt Tenn object, or even the custom furniture he designed for Frames stores, everything he surrounds himself with carries meaning. His passion for collecting extends beyond objects—it’s about storytelling, curation, and creating environments that stand the test of time.
We’ll talk about his fascination with auctions, his admiration for Swedish design, and how his personal collecting instincts influence his work. And of course, we’ll discuss one of my favorite Frame collaborations to date—the Ritz Paris collection—and how it captures the essence of timelessness and collectibility.
How does someone like Erik, who has spent his life refining his eye and building one of the world's biggest fashion brands, decide what belongs in his atmosphere? Well, that’s what I wanted to find out. So without further adieu, this is Erik Torstensson, for Collectors Gene Radio.
Frame - https://frame-store.com
Erik's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/eriktorstensson
Cameron Steiner - https://www.instagram.com/cameronrosssteiner
Collectors Gene - https://www.collectorsgene.com
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Transcript
Discovering Passion Through Renown Plus
00:00:00
Speaker
It was a pivotal moment when I got my hands on an issue of a magazine called Renown Plus that was, you know men's fashion of biannual out of London. and And I just thought, you know, I'd found my calling.
Introduction to Collector's Gene Radio
00:00:11
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? and welcome to Collector's Gene Radio.
00:00:15
Speaker
This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the collector's gene. If you have the time, please subscribe and leave a review.
00:00:27
Speaker
It truly helps. Thanks a bunch for listening and please enjoy today's guest on Collector's Gene Radio.
Introducing Eric Torstensen and Frame
00:00:35
Speaker
My guest today is Eric Torstensen, the visionary co-founder of Frame, one of the most influential fashion brands of our time. A true powerhouse in fashion, branding and creative direction, Eric has redefined modern style, building a brand that embodies effortless sophistication and timeless design.
00:00:51
Speaker
But beyond Frame, Eric's a collector at heart. a lover of art, design, and objects that tell a story. From childhood curiosities growing up in Sweden to carefully curated pieces of furniture, ceramics, and art, Eric's collections reflect a deeply personal sensibility rooted in heritage, durability, and sentiment.
Eric's Passion for Collecting and Storytelling
00:01:09
Speaker
Whether it's a Paul Chambeau ceramic, Sphinx 10 object, or even the custom furniture he designed for frame stores, everything he surrounds himself with carries meaning. His passion for collecting extends beyond objects. It's about storytelling, curation, and creating environments that stand the test of time.
00:01:26
Speaker
We'll talk about his fascinations with auctions, his admiration for Swedish design, and how his personal collecting instincts influence
Eric's Career in Creative Direction and Branding
00:01:33
Speaker
his work. And of course, we'll discuss one of my favorite frame collaborations to date, the Ritz-Paris collection, and how it captures the essence of timelessness and collectability.
00:01:43
Speaker
How does someone like Eric, who has spent his life refining his eye and building one of the world's biggest fashion brands, decide what belongs in his atmosphere? Well, that's what I wanted to find out. So without further ado,
00:01:54
Speaker
This is Eric Torsenson for Collectors G Radio.
00:01:59
Speaker
Eric Torstensen, what an honor to have you on Collectors Dream Radio today. The honor is all mine. and Thank you for having me. My pleasure. So you've had a fascinating career spanning you know creative direction and branding, and of course, as a co-founder of one of America's greatest fashion brands and and stories, Frame.
00:02:17
Speaker
But today we're here to talk about collecting and whether that's creating a collection for Frame down to the things that you fill your most personal spaces with.
Influence of Early Collecting on Eric's Career
00:02:27
Speaker
I'd love to know, what were the things that you were collecting as a kid growing up in Sweden?
00:02:32
Speaker
When I was growing up on a farm in Sweden, there was not access to so many things. And of course, I decided to be early on most interested in skateboarding, which was not the easiest to have access to ah You know, the the dreams of Karlsbad in Los Angeles and whatnot. It was very is very far away. So my first items that I collected was actually skateboarding stickers. It was the beginning, which I was obsessed with.
00:02:55
Speaker
They were, you know, possible to get a hold of potentially if you managed to go to Stockholm once a year. And I treasured them. I still have them. And then i upgraded to try to collect skateboarding magazines.
00:03:08
Speaker
which also was a funny process where I managed to get my parents to subscribe and to Thrasher magazine, to come out to the farm. But back in those days, the issue, they came three months after publishing, but it was still you know my most treasured possessions.
00:03:24
Speaker
And I read them backto back to back, over again and in and out. ah So like this skateboarding was my my my first sort of big passion. And I think that really...
00:03:35
Speaker
ah set off what would then become really my career as well because I really it was really sucked at skateboarding even though tried very hard. That makes two of us. I think it's a lot of us. but But I was very passionate about it and I was very taken by the graphics on the boards and the logos and stuff so that was kind of my way of interacting was start drawing logos and actually taking pictures of the guys that were better better than me I could hang out with they with the older cool guys.
00:04:00
Speaker
ah But the stickers in the magazines was a massive part of my ah life, you know, from maybe 11 years old. Was there a big skateboarding scene in in Stockholm in Sweden?
00:04:13
Speaker
In Stockholm, it was great. Sadly, I lived an hour and a half away. so I didn't get to experience it much. But when I did, it was amazing. and There was a town like half an hour away where there was at least some kind of mini ramp or something. But you know my my access to this was very scarce. And therefore, there was a lot of dreaming involved. and Not so great to skateboard on gravel on the farm. I mean, maybe ah maybe I sucked because of my access was limiting too, but I think I was also, not there was it was not my talent. I was not born to be a talent of a skateboarder, but it was my dream was to be a skateboard pro that failed massively.
00:04:45
Speaker
I love it. And then as time goes on, I mean, you leave Sweden at around age 19 and you moved to London. How did your collections evolve over the years? It evolved like from skateboard magazines. Then i found magazines in general. i got obsessed with magazines and the idea of working with magazines. And ah I don't know, I've said this before, but it was a pivotal moment when I got my hands on an issue of magazine called the Renown Plus that was, you know, men's fashion biannual out of London. and And I just thought you know I'd found my calling.
00:05:16
Speaker
ah remember it had a line on the cover, yellow background with some guy and I said like the world's greatest magazine or something. i can't remember, but like these, I started reading these and then I started collecting the Face magazine, all the stuff from England primarily around fashion and and graphic design that was like my obsession. So as I moved to London back again, back in those days when internet wasn't as big and as important and that there was no Instagram and whatnot and not everything was digitalized, a large part of my job as a then graphic designer and soon to be art director was you kind of were like the bigger your collection of references, magazines, and books, you know, you had, you were kind of winning because a lot of your work was based on, well, one's learning and seeing and developing your own taste, of course, but also be able to, you know, put together mood boards and describe what you wanted to achieve with a project. So the sort of the collecting part has really been very, very, very big,
00:06:11
Speaker
big part of my career.
The Importance of Printed Media in a Digital Age
00:06:13
Speaker
you know like Books and magazines became, and and still is, a large part of what I love and obsessed with. and and and And it set me off in the on the career path I ended up having. and As late as today, I took the delivery of some books. you know that i still I still love the printed medium so much, ah even though a lot of people have access to everything now digitally. But everything is not digitalized, and these books are still incredible.
Emotional Drive Behind Collecting
00:06:40
Speaker
Beyond fashion, you know you've spoke about your love for art and design, especially in the article that you did with Financial Times. For you, you're so busy you know running frame and you're an investor in a lot of other places, but what role does collecting play for you in your personal life? And how do you think it's influenced your perspective as a creative?
00:06:59
Speaker
I mean, I love it. And I collect in a very... It's completely emotionally driven with such as upsides and downsides, which I can explain. But my job, you have to be curious, right? So I'm very curious about new things.
00:07:13
Speaker
you know As you start, in the beginning, i was curious about graphic design, and then I want to know everything and consume everything about that, which I did. And you I started with you know being obsessive with, i mean, I collected typefaces and everything about typefaces and book about typefaces, and you learn everything about typefaces.
00:07:26
Speaker
And as my personality is very much like if I like something, i will go deep. And if I don't like something, i I'm not there. So now, you know, it's more of a... It's like the fun part of my, was like a hobby or whatever, it's a way way of living in a way. But ultimately, I think it all goes back to, I love beautiful things and I love beauty, right?
00:07:46
Speaker
And if that is graphic design or if it's a piece of clothing or if it's you know people or you know architecture or sunset, I don't know. But editing your life to have a lot of beauty in it that is based on my taste is something that i take great pleasure in.
00:08:03
Speaker
And I think nowadays, you know, from skateboard stickers to, of course, like that you graduate in your life and you learn more. And of course, maybe you have different financial means and so forth. You live and you learn and you educate yourself. And now I'm, you know, my focus is furniture and art for sure.
00:08:20
Speaker
And that's very exciting because you know it's a never-ending learning process. And if I look at where I started with that, it's very different to where I am now. Also, depending on, of course, how you develop your own taste and understanding of what you like and long-term like and what you want to sit with or not.
Collecting and Curation in Frame's Brand
00:08:39
Speaker
So I think the exciting thing with... Where I'm at nowadays is that it's just you learn new things and you feel get to feel new emotions and you put things together and, you know, you ultimately were editors, right? Like my collecting is one thing, the editing of it is and another part which I both enjoy very much.
00:08:57
Speaker
In that same article with FT, you mentioned the scrapbook that your mother made for you. You mentioned the Chuck Taylors that you've been wearing for 20 years. And you talk about your growing collection of Sphinx 10 pieces, each of those tied to a ah sentiment or durability and heritage.
00:09:13
Speaker
Would you say those collecting sensibilities are the same things that you try and implement at Frame? Yes and no. The problem with, not the problem, and why like making fashion by definition is hard to make collectible unless you're one of the maybe one or two brands in the world that can do that.
00:09:30
Speaker
We are not one of those brands because, you know, the word fashion also means that something has to be unfashionable, which is not something I love. ah But that's the name of the game right now. So, you know, there is that you produce a lot of new things constantly.
00:09:44
Speaker
I think that's more like, you know gathering in output and and, of course, it's a curation of sort of taste more and also thinking about your customer and what they want and so forth. I think there's another part of frame, though, that that is that is very much collecting and curation, and that comes then down to more you know things that are around for a longer time, which is the stores and then the furniture in the stores and then you know the art that we do for the stores and objects for stores, which I think is one of the most exciting parts of this job, for sure.
00:10:18
Speaker
then it's more about making it yourself.
Eric's Design Philosophy and Personal Taste
00:10:20
Speaker
I think there's two different things. And this is my maybe personal thing, but I like collecting. But historically, also, if I get interested in something, I don't just want to be ah someone i' from the outside that is just looking in. I think that's a very typical personality, but I want to get my hands dirty and try to make it.
00:10:35
Speaker
Just like I've done with, you know, it an art director for pictures for many, many years, and then was like, but why can't I take the picture? Or as an art director for a magazine, why can't I be the editor? Just like I'm obsessed with furniture, why can't i make some furniture?
00:10:48
Speaker
And I think those are two sort of mentalities, and a lot of people that just collect don't really create anything, and for me it's very important to... participate and push myself to do things creatively that are not passive, if that makes sense.
00:11:02
Speaker
Collecting, I think, is a very different thing. Certainly. And I mean, you've now started designing the furniture that goes into the frame stores, which and and people can purchase you know the tables or the chairs or whatever.
00:11:13
Speaker
I would have to assume you're pulling design and inspiration from all the things that you love to collect or wish to collect. Yeah, of course. I mean, it's ah ultimately a ah taste You're effectively yourself.
00:11:25
Speaker
you know youre i am the mood board of my life, right, or my taste, and that's That is what some people call like a gut feeling or creativity, which is based on ah one part of it. You don't really know where it comes from, but it's of course it's informed by everything you ever saw. you know It's like every exhibition, every book, everything. so And then you have emotional connections to certain, if it's art or design, whatever it might be, or materials that then over time, I think, develops your taste.
00:11:53
Speaker
And I think taste is very interesting because my taste is very specific. Me, I can really respect someone else's taste that is not mine at all, but I'd rather people have... you know taste. ah ah that And a good taste is irrelevant. It's just to have an opinion about it.
00:12:08
Speaker
And I think, yes, but but again, like if when I do it for frame, then it needs to fit into the concept of what that is. So it's kind of a certain things I would do for there that I wouldn't. And you know let's say frame from California, like woodwork is important there. like We have things by Nakashima in the store because it makes sense.
00:12:27
Speaker
you know We have these tables that I made there they kindt They're out of a stone that is reminiscent of what you could find in Malibu. you know So it has to kind of make sense. My house will not look the same, if that makes sense.
00:12:39
Speaker
So I think it's ah the balance between maybe like a typical collector. I think i I like being a collector, but I very much is a creator
Learning from Collecting Mistakes
00:12:48
Speaker
as well. And I think that's the the balance between the two how you can put them together is what I find very exciting.
00:12:53
Speaker
Yeah, it has to have cohesiveness and, you know, many of the things that you collect, like the tapestry that was behind you when we last spoke, you know, on on camera the other week and ah the Paul Schimbo, you know, ceramics and your chair collection, they're so cohesive and yet so distinctive.
00:13:10
Speaker
Have you ever found yourself, you know, drawn to something that you had to have, but you weren't sure it was going to fit in your space? Oh my God, all the time. You have no idea. idea There's a lot of things that I make.
00:13:23
Speaker
Collecting, you know, and developing your taste is also needs to be full of mistakes, right? Like, or mistakes or whatever. i mean, like, I have... I have so many things that I'm like, what was I thinking?
00:13:35
Speaker
What does this have to do with anything? and and I think I'm also, because the way I describe it is like, I'm not a very, you know, strategic nor planned person in anything I do. It's all emotional, right? So like, let's say early days when you dabble in art, you can also be, you know, you have to learn and and and and you also not have to learn how that works and what you can get access to and not. And what is your taste? So, you know, in the beginning of that, like, you know, I sit in a lot of stuff that I'm,
00:14:01
Speaker
like I don't know what I was thinking, honestly. Also because I'm so emotional, it can be like someone goes, you should get this. And I'm like, this is lovely, yes. And then when it comes home, you I'm like, well, I don't understand what's happening here. So now, after you know some years of experience, now it's much more about curating and actually pushing myself to stay within my what I think is my taste and what I love and and and curate myself, if you will. So I'm trying to to limit it. But it also depends on where where it's going to end up and how you're going to enjoy it. Let's say, just like with with interiors, I believe like if you do a house and apartment in New York, it's very different to if you do a country house in England.
00:14:38
Speaker
My taste will be, it's the same, but it's like how you adapt it. It's different kind of projects, let's say. And I think that goes for furniture and and and whatnot. But i I mean, I could send you a list of hundreds of things that should never have ended up anywhere.
Fascination with Auctions and Swedish Design
00:14:51
Speaker
Well, something that I think will put a smile on the listener's face is that you love to watch auctions, Sotheby's, Christie's, Phillips. Is this how you stay informed with the market on the things that you love?
00:15:02
Speaker
Yes, I love auctions. i love I go and see everything. It's amazing because i live in New York and the big three are very present here. I go and see everything. I truly enjoy it. To be able to see the pieces in person as well, and then I you know happily stream them.
00:15:16
Speaker
I have kind of banned myself from actively participating in auctions because being ada d i get very I've made many mistakes. that you know So I will only participate with absentee beads that are decided beforehand and cannot be changed, ideally.
00:15:30
Speaker
But I love seeing it. I love, and I highly recommend people are interested in this at any level, I'll send them to like view the results afterwards to track, you know, what things are and whatnot. Because, you know, of course there's, you know, it feels good if you made a good deal too. know, I'm, I'm not so, I'm not in this too, you know, as I said, I'm not strategic, it's all emotional. Like I've never like purchased anything because I thought this was going to be, you know, like the stock market. Yeah.
00:15:53
Speaker
But of course, you don't want to overpay. You want to be informed. And as it is the the only unregulated market there is, and it is the wild, wild west. But you know you have to have to learn how to be the sheriff.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yeah. Well, it's it's funny. and I commend you because my biggest kryptonite is watching the auctions and then forgetting that there's a 26 to 30% buyer's premium. And I'd make a bid and then I'm like, oh, shit, I forgot about that.
00:16:19
Speaker
Yeah, it happens to me too. And I mean, ideally, I wish they would just show it, the you know, the the the total cost at all times, so you don't have to think about it. But I mean, it's smart on their behalf, of course. The plus 25 or 20 is never a great surprise. And then you have shipping and customs and yeah.
00:16:34
Speaker
Yeah, that's the worst part. i Buy locally. Yeah, exactly. I'd love to get your take on Swedish design. It's obviously very personal to you with your upbringing, but I feel like it's having quite the moment right now.
00:16:48
Speaker
But I'm sure this was just kind of the normal stuff that you grew up around. I wish. Let me remind you, on ah I grew up on a pig farm. It was IKEA best. no but Yeah, some of them are. i mean, annoyingly is having a moment because now everything is, you know, racing racing ahead. But Of course, yeah, Sven's 10, I didn't grow up with that. That was something I learned later in life about. And what I liked with that specifically, and I love with Sven's 10, is that it's only one store. you know When everything is so globalized, and you can get things everywhere.
00:17:18
Speaker
I read used to really like that. I've got a lot of stuff there for a house I have in England because guests came and they did like, this is amazing, but I've never seen it. So you know I like that like things where I'm not like the typically overexposed, unidentifiable things. And compared to many other things, it's expensive, but it's not like...
00:17:36
Speaker
out of this world, Chris is the sign auction expensive, you know? So, so I think that's great. And for me, of course, you know, being Swedish is hard to, having been away since I was 19, it's nice to have a little bit of a link. And now, you know, I always admire this period of, you know, Swedish grace. So the expression of Swedish grace from Sweden, which I think is amazing. And, and,
00:17:55
Speaker
Yeah, and all the Pewter and Anna Petrus and and the you know the World Exhibition in the 1920s. It's so beautiful and elegant and I think different to what people were used to seeing from Sweden that was very practical early days. you know The design is more modernist.
00:18:09
Speaker
and That was popular. And it's nice to see this elegance spreading, but it's also annoying because now yeah the prices are skyrocketing and it's harder to get it. But I've been looking at it for some time and yeah I have what I have and that's great.
00:18:21
Speaker
I'm glad to see so you know Sweden having a spotlight on it for for this beautiful gracefulness that they created or created. I don't know if you're familiar with Axel Einarjort, and there's something it's all this like wood furniture that in Swedish is called Sportstugemöbler, which is hard to translate, but like it's what you had in your little cabin, whatever, in Sweden, and they were like very affordable and easy to make. And then suddenly, you know this is the interesting interesting thing for the market, that gets hyped and someone builds up a case around it, and then suddenly those things go for insane amounts. And you kind of...
00:18:51
Speaker
In the beginning, i you know again, early on with that stuff, that was good, but you're thinking, this is crazy. yeah It's a little hard to understand at some points. Yeah, but you know it's a certain hype. but the I love the Swedish connection. I think it's nice to one foot in that one foot in really enjoying
00:19:14
Speaker
French design, of course, and some Italian. And and the upside of ah being Swedish is that you can dig deeper into smaller auction houses and really do finds and work with like smaller dealers. And you know it's it's harder for me to do that in Italy or France, I think.
00:19:30
Speaker
Certainly, yeah. and I think the best part about all the Swedish stuff that's kind of coming to light right now is that it does, like you said, work with French antiques and Italian antiques. And if it's done right, it's it's actually a beautiful mix.
00:19:42
Speaker
yeah no i mean Yeah, exactly. And that's the curation, right? And that's what makes it your own, which I think, again, comes back to taste. it' like you know that I think the worst thing is like when you do the, I don't know, whatever they call it, like the rich man's starter kit. It's the typical three paintings, and then it's like the ah typical, I don't know, Roya Plur sofa nowadays, or whatever it might be. like that's That's just like...
00:20:06
Speaker
You're getting like the starter kit, what you're seeing other people have and what you're supposed to have, and which i to me is like not tasty, even though there's a bunch of maybe beautiful and great artists involved. yes it's I have friends who are collectors that are like, I don't have the funds to do certain things, and I definitely don't, and have friends who are like extraordinarily wealthy.
00:20:24
Speaker
And it's all very different, but the people I respect are the ones who apply their like own taste. And I think also being brave or like you know having the opportunity to mix high and low, that is just qualitative. you know I have things that cost $200 and next to things that cost much more, but it's the mix of it that makes it my taste, if that makes sense.
00:20:43
Speaker
For sure. Let's talk about the other side of collecting, which is what you do for work and arguably my favorite collection you've done at Frame, and that's the Ritz Paris collection.
Frame's Ritz Paris Collection and Storytelling
00:20:54
Speaker
First off, I'd love to know from you what your favorite pieces are, because i have mine from that collection.
00:21:00
Speaker
Well, I mean, it's forever changing. we're on We just dropped the the fourth drop as we've done this, and this is what um I think the best part of this collaboration with the Ritz is that Nowadays, brands often do these things as a very sort of hit-and-run marketing ploy, whatever, or like a stunt.
00:21:17
Speaker
And then you move on. And I think the consumer is kind of tired of that. It often doesn't make sense. and But I'm very proud of it. The Ritz collab is that you know we're um we've done it for two years, solid now. It really sells.
00:21:29
Speaker
you know it really is is It's amazing. And... I always loved the idea. It came about because it was also just of COVID. And Camilla Alfea, there's a friend of mine who owned the hotel, asked if we can do something together. And I love the idea of being able to... you know Not everyone... Again, it's almost like... I know the clothes are not cheap in any way, but they're much more affordable than going to Paris and staying at the Ritz. I like the idea of democratizing the experience of the Ritz in a very luxurious way. So...
00:21:56
Speaker
And not just doing what a lot of other brands do in so many followed suit with hotel collaborations. but you know You put the logo on the sweatshirt. To me, like that's not enough. What is good here is like we're doing luxurious products. So like if you ask my favorite pieces, we take our extremely well-crafted cashmere sweaters and actually an Intarsha logo on it you know We try to have fun with it. we have I love the stuff that we use that we do that it says, like don't disturb on the back. That is kind of hotel lingo.
00:22:23
Speaker
But then the other part is like in the most recent collection, you know, then a specific scarf print that is like a silk scarf that that is based on the hotel DNA, you know, and then we use that as a lining and a trench coat.
00:22:34
Speaker
The things that are a little bit more advanced, but I prefer the, the, the merch part of course is amazing. But what we try to do with that is always make it like try a bit harder than, than what is usually seen as merch. don't really like the merch idea.
00:22:50
Speaker
What is your favorite piece? Yeah. Okay, my my three picks are, I love the tonal logo crew neck in cotton. And i think all the colors are amazing, but I think there's something about the green and the red that seem pretty special.
00:23:05
Speaker
Love it. Yeah. The trucker hat is insane. Yeah. That's the bestseller. I love it. And I think the denim shirt is maybe the biggest sleeper of the of the bunch. And I love that maybe because I'm i'm constantly wearing a denim shirt.
00:23:20
Speaker
Interesting. What I like, it's funny when people... like figure out different ways to to use this. I have, we did the silk pajamas that was meant to be like the most luxurious version of a pajamas that you have in hotel. And then I started seeing friends that was like women that were wearing it out in New York. And I was like, this is amazing.
00:23:36
Speaker
I love that. The reason I wanted to ask you about that is because, you know, collaborations often have a very collectible quality to them. It offers something unique and something rare. And I love that it's like this ongoing partnership and everyone is always on the edge of their seat, ready to see what the next collection looks like and get the next piece of the next collection.
00:23:57
Speaker
Would you say it was an easy approach to make it feel this special and collectible? Was that the idea in your mind or did it just kind of happen that way? It's funny. I haven't thought about it, but as you say it, I mean, I remember we have like the first like ah varsity jackets we did.
00:24:11
Speaker
for the first collection. I have seen now you know being on Grail and places like that for $5,000. So they definitely have to be that. But I think what we're fortunate to do here is to collaborate with one of the greatest luxury brands in the world that has so much history and so much emotion attached to it in the w Ritz Paris.
00:24:28
Speaker
So I think the combination of... us as a brand and how we can execute the clothes with with their brand and the you know the feeling that they bring and the recognition makes something that is a little bit more magical for sure. And it signals something if you if you wear these things for sure.
00:24:44
Speaker
but Maybe more so than Frame because Frame is very much no-logo brand. We really make clothes you know that are supposed to be worn day-to-day or make everyday chic, which is kind of our our job, I think, which becomes something else. you know It's a bit bit more status. you know It says something. So I think that often is what ends up being collectible when it comes to fashion. you know That's why Hermes Birkenberg is very expensive and you know three times more when you walk out of the store with it if you're lucky enough to buy it.
00:25:13
Speaker
Because it's effectively status, right? Same with unique or special supreme drops or whatnot. And usually we're not in the business of that at all. ah But yeah, but with the rates is the closest we get, I think.
00:25:25
Speaker
And what I really loved about and continue to love about it is that it tells ah story. That whole collection tells a story. It could have no copy behind any of the photos or any of the adverts or any of that. And it tells that story. And I think, you know, the Ritz hasn't really changed their m MO since inception. And the same with Fran, you guys are both really about what you've been about from day one.
00:25:47
Speaker
And the story is often such an important thing to collectors when collecting anything. Was that important for you when when you guys were doing this collab and when you're creating other collections like that for Frame?
00:25:59
Speaker
Yes. I think it's a continuous storytelling. Every Ritz drop we've done, you know has like you know the first one was very centered around the Ritz itself, as it should be, and then we took Ritz to New York for the second one. And then the one that just dropped now was very much about, sort of it was like old Money Long Island, actually, and kind of Jackie Kennedy, you know, that sort of aesthetic. But again, like applying the Ritz to that. So we would take a traveling, you know, next time when you know, I really want to take you back to Paris and again. So like every, yeah every time should have a story to keep it sort of together, which I think is important. So people understand when and how, so that's definitely considered,
00:26:39
Speaker
We don't do that with all the sort of the frame collections that we drop because they're much wider and it's more sort of, it needs to do much bigger job, if you will. But it's very exciting to do this. And we have a, mean, I have another big collaboration coming, which I cannot speak about here, but will come this year that I think you specifically will enjoy. I'll make sure you get some.
00:26:58
Speaker
Okay. I love it. I'm excited for that. It's all about collectibles. Oh, really? Interesting. That's ah maybe the first little sneak peek we'll get here for all the listeners. I'm sure everyone's going to be excited to hear that.
00:27:10
Speaker
Does it ever occur to you that your most diehard and loyal customers are effectively collecting the pieces that you've created? um i don't know if they do.
00:27:22
Speaker
i i think they buy the clothes to to look good and feel good and and sort of be maybe like and be part of a certain aesthetic. i like I honestly don't think we're we're in the business of making clothes that are collectible. and that I don't think it's anyone that is like, oh, I'm like collecting stuff frame cashmere sweaters or frame jeans and they feel anything about it that way, I think that would be d bit two thinking too highly of ourselves. I think i think we make clothes that people wear. I'm very proud of that. That's great. you know And we try to have an appealing and consistent sort of brand DNA that our customers find exciting. And then it's our job on top of that, of course, to re-energize the brand with new things and exciting opportunities like the Ritz or other things we've done or are going to do, if you will.
00:28:09
Speaker
But then I think the feeling of though being a brand that cares about ah sort of the lifestyle of our customer and us, that that really comes into play when we do the stores and the curation of like you know the furniture and the art there that is that we really take.
00:28:24
Speaker
that i think it's a big part of our DNA and even more so to come. Before we wrap it up with the collectors, Gene Rundown, I would love to know, you know, for you, with someone who is, you know, you're someone who is just so busy and you have so much going on, but you decide to spend, you know, your excess mental real estate
How Collecting Complements Lifestyle
00:28:41
Speaker
collecting. And I'd love to know why collecting is just so important to you.
00:28:45
Speaker
Well, everyone thinks I'm so busy. I don't know. I like, i think it is, I mean, I talk way too much about this, but when you have, like my type of personality, which is, you know, ADHD driven and very restless and quite fast. I think I really get off on new information, new visuals, whatever it might be. Just like, you know I'm effectively also collecting images, let's say digital images. There is research. I probably have a hundred thousand images, you know, that I've you know saved and it's like an asset, but I truly enjoy it because it's like, it's new and learning. So it's, it's not like it,
00:29:20
Speaker
It doesn't take that much time. I'm not, you know, I'm not the one who will research everything. And I mean, i know this also makes for many mistakes, but it's like, it's it's very, very fast. And I think often people ask me about even with work, like how do you handle certain things? And I think things that took a long time many, many years ago, it's faster now. It's like a sport. You become better at your sport because you trained a lot. So to do, you know,
00:29:43
Speaker
an idea for a shoot or whatever, you know, it's, it's much faster. And I think the same thing when, when you, when you learn about your interests, when it comes to furniture or art, whatever it might be, what you're interested in, you, you're much faster. I go very quickly through everything. You know, I also like, you know, I will walk ah you know, I will walk the sales, whatever. Chris, this is like, this is this a 15 minute thing because I hate to stand and look for too long. You know, so everything, everything is very fast, very fast, which also creates many mistakes, but that's just the way I am. so
00:30:17
Speaker
I love it. Eric, let's wrap it up with the collector's gym rundown. You can answer these questions based on any of the things that you collect. So the first question is, what's the one that got away? Oh, so many. Yeah.
00:30:29
Speaker
so So many. ah And I have a funny story. but This is also why I stopped actually bidding live. I had for many, many, many years dreamt of having this pair of Giacometti chairs. It's like my absolute dream.
00:30:42
Speaker
And the sale came up and i was like, I'm going to go for it. I guess i was feeling good. And it was on the app and and these two beautiful chairs. And I was bidding and bidding and i was seeking advice from dear friend of mine who's very, very knowledgeable.
00:30:58
Speaker
And he's like, still a good price, still good price, go, go, go. And then I won them. And I was so happy and a little bit sick to my stomach because it was a little bit on the upper end of what I should really fiddle with. But then this is the problem I have, you see. and then Now you will understand what I talking about earlier.
00:31:13
Speaker
Then I looked at the description because I hadn't. And it goes, the chair. said, well, it's a picture of two chairs. But that chair is what I had bought, the one. And then the next lot came up and it was another chair.
00:31:24
Speaker
Oh, no. So not only had I bought one chair instead of two for what I thought was the price of two, I obviously couldn't go for the one ah that came after, and that one definitely got away. So I wish that was in my possession. It would be much nicer with two, but I learned a lesson for sure.
00:31:42
Speaker
ah Luckily enough, I didn't lose out on it anyway, because they so those kind of things never... never go down, but it was definitely lesson learned, and that one definitely got away.
00:31:54
Speaker
I've had many moments like that where i I win a lot, and then I look at the description, and I'm like, oh, shit. but did I once bought a selection of ceramics. It wasn't expensive. It was very great. And I was like, be great. This is perfect. Like 12 of them, and when it came, they were all like a centimeter and a half or two centimeters tall.
00:32:13
Speaker
It was like miniature. And I was like, great. Yeah, it was for a dollhouse. Exactly. How about the on-deck circle? So what's next for you in collecting? Maybe something that you're hunting after?
00:32:24
Speaker
I think it's like an ongoing process. And it's more of what what comes. I mean, there's certain things that I'm trying, that that i like if it's furniture designers and an artist that I keep an eye on, of course, and if things come up or become available, I take greater interest. But my my focus is only furniture and art. there's nothing else I really care about now. so and I'm also like in the process of finishing a house, so this is will be an intense period for it. I need more of it, but I don't know how to do it. It's always the problem.
00:32:57
Speaker
The unobtainable. So this is one that is just too expensive, in a museum, private collection, just complete unobtainium.
Aspirations and Admiration in Collecting
00:33:05
Speaker
All of them. I don't know. Almost everything I like, this is the problem when you study and you like you you you you like the good stuff is that it's all unobtainable.
00:33:14
Speaker
It's Alexander Knoll cabinet that is in black that is 101 that I would love to look at every day, but it's in a private collection owned by Pinot, I think it is, ah that i always, you know, I've looked at it for years and years and years and that will never, of course, never happen.
00:33:31
Speaker
oh But that endless amounts of things. The page you want to rewrite. So if money was no object and you could collect anything else besides what you currently collect, what would it be?
00:33:43
Speaker
All the things that are in museums and private collections on the previous question. don't know. I don't know. I think I found my but what I like, which is the furniture and the art for sure.
00:33:54
Speaker
ah If I could, i like sculptures and I like big outdoor sculptures. So if money was no object, I would happily have a sculpture park full of massive Henry Moors. This is also not never going it's never going to happen either, but that I would truly enjoy if for sure. And also be able to, you know that it already exists for the public and so forth. But yeah, that wouldn't be so bad.
00:34:17
Speaker
How about the goat? Who do you look up to in the collecting world or who do you think is a great collector? Oh, I mean, this is, again, more closer to my test, but i think Peter Brandt, if you know, here in New York, who I think is an incredible collector and been for so many years. And also, you know, interesting because, you know, sometimes that sales, so you actually get to see, but it is, it's like very active and turning things around. And I think he's,
00:34:40
Speaker
his knowledge and having been there you know during important times and picked up the right things that that was so important for those times is very admirable and also being able to you know have the foundation to share you know with people, which I think is very important.
00:34:54
Speaker
But I... I agree a lot with his his taste and selections. I very much enjoy, i think, what he's doing. And it's very impressive that way. But then on another level, I have you know someone that I look up to a lot. This is actually someone I work with called Nicholas Dreyfus, who's the CEO of Frame, who's a dear, dear friend and an amazing partner to me. And he's the opposite to me. in way We have the same taste, but he's like a savant information cruncher, knows everything about everything and and and you know all the history and what is good and what is not. And he has an incredible...
00:35:27
Speaker
i and also an incredible wealth of information so i often seek advice
The Joy of Editing and Curating Collections
00:35:30
Speaker
from him if i'm going to look at something and what he thinks and and i i love working with him on even the you know the creation and the design of our stores and so forth and and i think he's just very very knowledgeable and we we share you know we share a lot of similar tastes it gives me lots of pleasure but i think he's incredible the hunt or the ownership which one do you enjoy more
00:35:54
Speaker
The edit, I would say, if I can pick. The refining. Yeah. Like, I don't care as much about ownership. Weirdly, like, I don't... I like looking at things and experiencing things and living with things. And, and and of course, as I said, like, I like to curate sort of what I think is beautiful.
00:36:12
Speaker
But it's really not about ownership. It's like it's not about at all about status stuff like that for me. ah i like I think I like the edit and the hunt and the curation more, you know, the find and then in the feeling.
00:36:26
Speaker
I'm with you there.
Reflections on the Collector's Gene
00:36:28
Speaker
And most importantly, do you feel that you were born with the collectors, Gene? Oh, I think I was just really bored. I don't know Maybe. Yes. Maybe, maybe. But... ah Yeah, maybe.
00:36:40
Speaker
But I think I was just bored a lot when I was little and therefore like I had to have something to do. But but but yeah, by now for sure. And I think, again, as I said earlier, I think in a large part of what I do in work is collecting information or visuals or experiences and whatnot and then creating outputs from that. So it's very innate.
00:37:00
Speaker
you know, it's day to day and it doesn't matter if it's like researching images as a part of it, like kind of collecting to or books or art or furniture ah because it's very very specific, you know, like I don't care about lot of people that collect watches or cars or stuff. I'm think completely uninterested in this.
00:37:16
Speaker
So it's very specific to different categories. I love it. Eric Torstensen, co-founder of Frame, thank you so much for coming on Collectors Gym Radio today. I can't wait to come to New York and we'll sit down and we'll we'll chat about all all things collecting.
00:37:30
Speaker
It was great talking about this. Thank you. We can walk the auctions very fast. um I'm a fast walker too, so I'm i'm there with you. right. Love it. Thank you so much.
00:37:41
Speaker
All right. That does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collectors Gym Radio. Thank you.