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Even if you don’t know Fin Art Co., there’s a good chance you’ve feasted at one of its tables: The Denver furniture design company, founded seven years ago by childhood friends Rob McGowan and Ben Olson, is responsible for the custom furniture in many of the best—and best-looking—restaurants in town, including Linger, Stoic & Genuine, and Old Major (plus a number of high-end one-off pieces for residential clients).
This summer, Fin Art unveils its first collection for the rest of us: Fin Art One, a line that comprises a chair, credenza, barstool, dining table, and end table, each with several design options. Offering a set menu instead of only designing to order will lower production costs—and, therefore, price tags—making the pieces accessible to a wider audience. “That’s what we’ve been figuring out: how to build something at a price point that all of our friends and everyone else can afford,” McGowan says.
It also lets McGowan and Olson finally express their tastes without having to defer to clients. “This is what we look like, essentially,” McGowan says. If that’s true, he and Olson must be men of steel. Fin Art One features reclaimed wood and virgin maple and walnut, but the line relies heavily on steel legs shaped or cut (thick to thin, tapered to straight). The end result is…well, they’re not quite sure. “Midcentury modern?” Olson ventures. “Almost industrial modern.”
Whatever you call it, Fin Art One (available through the company’s website) is simple and sturdy, a collection designed to put the company on course for its larger ambition. “What’s to stop us from being the next amazing large furniture company?” McGowan asks. It’s an achievement that would surely make Fin Art a name worth remembering.
