Talk with the CEO of Native Union

With ambition comes hurdles, but Igor has been able to successfully tie together not just one, but two of his passions – tech and considered design – to create a brand with aims of empowering others to live with the same gumption. Here, he shares his insights on sustaining creativity, Native Union’s birth story, and how he wants to make his mark.

Tell us about you?

I’m quite lucky to have been able to identify my interests at such a young age. When I was a teenager in Paris, I would buy three magazines religiously every month: Surf Session, Électronique Pratique, and Architectural Digest. I knew since then that I wanted to build my career around one of these interests. So, straight out of business school, I created a designer furniture brand. My dream was to bring beautifully crafted pieces into homes everywhere.

The arrival of the first iPhone in 2007 completely changed my life. I was glued to it instantly, and quickly realized that this device was going to transform the way we live. That same year, I met my business partner, John Brunner, in a co-working space in Hong Kong. Sharing a passion for good design and quality products. We wanted to challenge the perception that tech accessories are purely functional and dull. Together, we created Native Union.

From furniture to tech

When I first started my furniture brand, I was extremely young, passionate, but above all, very inexperienced. I was overly ambitious. It seems obvious now, but the harsh reality is that creating and shipping fragile products halfway across the world comes with a lot of obstacles that I wasn’t equipped to solve.

I became frustrated with what I could achieve and knew I was hitting a brick wall. I had to move on to something new. The revolution of the iPhone really came at the perfect time for me. I’ve always had a great affinity for tech, and the absence of refined accessories for it meant I could combine two of my passions, giving rise to our brand quite naturally.

How do you stay inspired?

My team is one of my greatest sources of inspiration. We come from all over the world and are incredibly diverse, which plays a big role in fostering a creative atmosphere and culture of boundless ideation.

However, there are certainly some slow days in the office when inspiration doesn’t flow as well. It’s like your body when you’re running: sometimes you find a rhythm and can go on and on, but other times it just gives in. Creativity is the same. Some days you have clarity in your mind and ideas on how to shape the future come easily, and other days it’s just a black cloud.

Aside from caring for my family, I hope to be able to convey our mission at Native Union to the world. Today, people may think that we’re simply making beautiful tech accessories. But our ambition is really to empower the modern lifestyle and give people the confidence to pursue their own passions. If I’m able to touch people’s lives this way, I’ll be truly content.