Tête-à-Tête with Russell Pinch & Caroline Engelgaar

Introducing the Creative Directors of PINCH and MKDT Studio: Russell Pinch & Caroline Engelgaar, in conversation about their collaboration during the recent 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen, about creative processes and their plans for summer.

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/Please introduce yourself.

Russell Pinch, 51, Furniture and Lighting Designer,

“I live in London with my wife, who is the co-owner and MD of our business, PINCH. Our work lives are utterly entwined with our home lives. I love design and the process of design—working with a great team and getting into the workshop as often as possible. I’m a self-proclaimed workaholic, a furniture lover who loves what I do. I have to leave London at least every three weeks to surround myself with nature. I enjoy cooking, eating, and traveling with our two daughters to exciting places.”

Caroline Engelgaar, 46, Creative Director of MKDT Studio,

“I live in Copenhagen with my husband and three kids. During the summer months, we reside in a charming house near Christianshavns Vold. In the colder months, we move to a cozy attic apartment on Frederiksberg. I graduated from Kolding Design School in 2005 and co-founded the agency Femmes Regionales with Mie Albæk Nielsen the same year. Until 2021, we created bespoke conceptual designs, spatial design, and branding for international design and fashion brands. In August 2022, I joined Mark Kenly Domino Tan as creative director.”

 

/What’s the story behind PINCH?

Oona and I started PINCH in 2004 with the aim to create furniture and lighting that we would want to live with. We set our sights on what we would want to surround ourselves with, indulged ourselves in the detail, and didn’t compromise on the materials or the making. Our ambition is to put creativity at the heart of everything we do. Our products are characterized by a quiet and elegant aesthetic, the result of tireless refinement and an intense dedication to craft and process. We believe in poetic design and making beautiful things—pieces that endure, inspire, and aspire to be inherited.

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/PINCH & Mark Kenly Domino Tan have teamed up for 3 Days of Design. Could you describe why you decided to team up?

CE: We share many ideologies, embodying a shared appreciation of exquisite materials, strong shapes, and timeless, refined design. The basic idea that connects our universes is the love for creating long-lasting products.

RP: Always respectful of Danish design principles and the many ‘greats’ whose furniture legacy is so lasting, we recognize a duality in the collections of Mark Kenly Domino Tan and those of our own. We are both guided by the beauty found in simplicity, enduring functionality, style, and the allure of pure form. We are grateful to be invited to share their flagship boutique for the festival’s duration. Introducing our British furniture and signature design language to Denmark’s capital, blending design-led brand sensibilities with native creative styles.

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/Moving into the new season, how does your wardrobe transform? Do you see similarities and transformations in your home when moving into a new season?

RP: We are blessed with four distinct seasons in the UK, and my wardrobe definitely evolves in materials and layers. Homes are less transient in their design at the core than a wardrobe, but the similarity is in the layering. As winter descends, skins are brought out onto our chairs, candles in the rooms, throws and blankets adorn our sofas, and our open fires become the heart of the home. As spring and summer approach, the interior is pared back, fresh herbs and flowers replace the candles, and the outside becomes the focus.

CE: My wardrobe transforms in terms of fabrics and colours. The silhouettes and styles remain the same; always darker and heavier in the winter, and with the light and spring comes a lighter colour palette and thin, breathable fabrics. We are fortunate to have two homes: the apartment in late autumn and the cabin in spring and summer. I mirror this with my interiors at both addresses: furniture and garden accents in lighter tones, and our winter home in darker, warmer, rougher textures, creating a more spacious and cozier atmosphere. The art remains consistent, though. ;)

 

/Your go-to uniform?

CE: Cashmere blouse or poplin shirt, large graphical silver earrings, tailored pants, and a sculptural blazer or a double-breasted men’s trench coat.

RP: A wide-leg, relaxed-cut cotton twill trouser, favourite well-worn neutral trainers, a well-structured t-shirt, and a lightweight informal jacket.

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/What inspires you the most in your creative process? 

CE: Colour scales, material structures, art in the form of physical art or a particular art/fashion period, and literature.

RP: Travel, great art, and architecture directly inspire me, but the most meaningful ideas are summoned as feelings. It’s challenging to explain, but the magic happens when I try to capture a mood or daydream that gives me a soaring feeling in my heart, which needs to be translated into a design. I’m always dreaming of how a space should feel and then conjuring those designs to create that space. It’s about curating ideas in my imagination. 

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/What are you currently working on?

RP: To celebrate 20 years of our business, we are working hard on a new collection of furniture and lighting that will launch in a month-long pop-up showroom in Tribeca, New York.

CE: Currently working on our SS25 Show for Copenhagen Fashion Week in August. Privately, we are rebuilding our cottage house, using a lot of pine wood.

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/Can you share a particular project or collaboration that has had a significant impact on you and why it stands out?

CE: I was creatively responsible for the concept and interior design of IKEA’s collaboration with Virgil Abloh, an exhibition that unfolded in Paris in the summer of 2019, where he also debuted at Paris Fashion Week for Louis Vuitton as the first black creative director of a major Parisian fashion house. Feeling his energy, the importance, and the movement he created for so many people was wild and magical. He was a very kind and inspiring person.

RP: Our strongest collaborations are with the workshops we work with. We are partners in making great things happen. The Nim coffee table cast in Jesonite, designed about ten years ago, was a key moment in working hand in hand with a talented maker. This project required a shared passion and creativity from both of us. The maker in this case was a high-end art fabricator and my primary school friend. Since then, we have designed first and then tried to find the right partner to bring our ideas to life. That means we now work with a growing stable of talented makers from various studios, including glassblowers, milliners, gold leaf experts, cabinet makers, upholsterers, and more high-end art fabricators.

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/How will you spend your summer?

RP: With my lovely family, split between the southwest of France and Devon in the UK. Lots of cycling, oysters, brocantes, and as much time as possible in the sea.

CE: In southern Sweden and Bornholm with friends and family; Scandinavian summer is very poetic and magical.

 

/Favourite ice cream flavour?

CE: Hazelnut ice cream. 

RP: Coffee and malted rye.

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