Everybody loves Bobby. That’s what Philippe Starck said when he launched his first outdoor collection, in 2010, with Bobby Dekeyser’s furniture company, Dedon. That’s what everyone says when asked about Dekeyser — a soccer-pro-turned-entrepreneur who founded Dedon in Germany back in 1990.
Perhaps it’s those searing blue eyes and shock of gray hair. Perhaps it’s Dekeyser’s drive to do the right thing, offering each of his 3,000 Philippines factory workers above-average pay and free health care. Or perhaps it’s his eternal optimism, perservering through the sudden death of his wife of 20 years to expand Dedon into 80 countries, including an NYC flagship.
Whatever the reason, A-list designers — Jean-Marie Massaud, Richard Frinier, Starck — want to be close to this wunderkind who is the indisputable leader of upscale outdoor furnishings. As do NYC-based talents such as Stephen Burks, whose DALA collection for Dedon stands out for its flexibility and eco bonafides.
If numbers can quantify a person, then 50-year-old Dekeyser has won the lotto. Here are just a few to put the intrepid, rule-bending visionary into perspective.
420 — Dekeyser spends at least this many minutes outside every day. If weather permits, meetings, telephone conferences and brainstorming sessions are also made al fresco and the number could go up to 780
139 — Soccer balls Dekeyser has owned (although he has given away or lost most)
2 — Dedon pieces introduced by designer Stephen Burks at April’s Salone del Mobile in Milan — including a lounge chair called AHNDA (below) and a large daybed that’s an extension to his DALA collection
400 — Meters of mosquito nets that have been purchased for Dedon Island (above and below), Dekeyser’s nine-room resort in the Philippines, near the Dedon factory. Also purchased: 25 scuba tanks, 70 life jackets
9 — Total number of DALA designs created for Dedon
1 — Days it takes to weave one DALA lounge chair
$1,080 — Median retail price of a DALA piece
2,500 — Amount of coconuts the Dedon Island resort goes through each year
387 — Emails Dekeyser receives each day
296 — Minutes Dekeyser spends on the phone each day, until his battery dies
127 — Times Dekeyser gets in and out of a plane, car, or taxi each month
27,546 — Copies of “Not for Sale!” sold to date. Dekeyser’s business book/personal memoir was released in Europe in May 2012; it will be available in the US this month
27,500 — Miles Dekeyser travels each year going back and forth to the Philippines — enough to have earned him top frequent-flier status
2,500 — Applications the Dekeyser&Friends Foundation has received for projects on the island of Cebu, in the Philippines
40 — This many Cebuano families in Compostela have moved into new homes (below), thanks to a re-housing project by D&F
120 — Number of products Dedon offers in its catalog, averaging five new products each year
700,000 — Clients in Dedon’s worldwide data-base
1 — Dekeyser owns just one home in Hamburg
2.5 — Filing cabinets full of fan mail Dekeyser has received since he released “Not for Sale!”
3 — Days Dekeyser spent spent in Ibiza for his last vacation, in April
43 — How many times, on average, Dekeyser says “no” each day — he says “yes” 81 times
3 — Cellphones lost while stand-up paddle boarding