Czech lighting brand Bomma moves Copenhagen crowd to tears

The Czech designer lighting brand Bomma brought the audience at a theatrical performance in Copenhagen to tears, and its chief executive, Vadim Horna, admits he couldn't hold back his own emotions either. The company, part of Martin Wichterle's empire, posted revenue of around 300 million crowns last year from its own line alone, while the whole Bomma & Rückl group earned roughly 600 million crowns — and according to Horna, that is far from the ceiling.

The Czech brand's showcase took place in mid-June at 3daysofdesign, the Danish counterpart to Milan's Salone del Mobile, which draws leading architects and designers from around the world in search of inspiration. It was there, in a recently restored early-18th-century theatre at the royal Christiansborg complex, that Bomma staged an immersive installation: a crystalline cloud of delicate veils and dozens of lamps assembled from recycled glass shards hovered above the stage, with a fragile ballerina circling among them for half an hour.

“Our lamps aren't exactly understated — they're meant to draw attention, so we're used to strong reactions from the public. But when I saw people crying, I welled up myself,” says Vadim Horna, the seasoned managerial matador at the helm of Bomma & Rückl Group.

According to Horna, things have come together well — the company's business success is now being matched by a push to build brand recognition. “Commercially we're doing fine, but we don't yet have as strong a brand in the industry as we'd like, so we decided to work on that,” he explains of the company's reason for taking part in the Danish event.

The company tried something similar last year at Designblok in the Kovařovic Villa, filling seven rooms at once with light, music and scent. That drew attention to the Czech brand not just at home but in the specialist international press too — and it's that same effect Bomma is chasing again now.

Bomma lamps already light up the homes of Hollywood stars Ashton Kutcher and Jake Paul. Yet the company itself, Horna says, remains relatively small, which lets it grow faster than bigger players. “We're profitable, and that's what matters most,” he stresses, adding that the past several years have each been record ones for Bomma in turn. The company's EBITDA last year came to around 60 million crowns.

Bomma was founded in 1992 by Jiří Trtík, who started out making grinding and cutting machines for the glass industry in Světlá nad Sázavou. Today the brand belongs to Martin Wichterle's glassmaking empire alongside the Rückl glassworks in Nižbor and a number of related businesses.