50 years of Asa Selection: purity as a heritage, creative strength on the horizon

In 2026, ASA Selection reaches the milestone of fifty years—an anniversary that sheds light both on the history of a house founded by Yvonne and Axel Schubkegel and on the quiet strength of an aesthetic that has become its signature. Since 1976, the brand has shaped its own language: clean lines, honest materials, controlled sobriety. This approach, at the crossroads of rigour and sensitivity, has earned it numerous design awards (iF Design Awards, Red Dot…) and international recognition. Present on all continents, ASA has established itself as one of the leading references in contemporary tableware, driven by a clear identity and rare stylistic coherence.

France occupies a singular place in this trajectory. As the brand’s second-largest market after Germany, it offers a loyal and demanding audience. Over the years, a special bond has been forged with French customers, who are particularly receptive to the functional elegance and creative spirit that define ASA.

From the outset, ASA Selection has borne the imprint of its founder, Yvonne Schubkegel, whose vision shaped the company’s DNA. Her aesthetic, marked by an asserted sobriety, has always championed essential forms, bold colours and a rejection of artifice. She built an immediately recognisable visual grammar: clear, functional lines designed to accompany the real uses of contemporary kitchens. This intuitive approach, rooted in a family culture of ceramics—her father already worked in the field in the 1950s—gives ASA a rare continuity within the design landscape. Today, collection design and operational management are led by Catrin Schubkegel, representing the second generation, and Nuno Gameiro, her husband, who joined the company in 2008. Together, they steer the house with renewed energy, adapted to a world where market shifts, trend volatility and logistical tensions require greater agility. They preserve the heritage without freezing it, ensuring that the unique creative fibre that distinguishes ASA from so many other players remains intact.

A human-scale company, structured around creation

ASA Selection now brings together around sixty employees in Höhr-Grenzhausen, some fifteen kilometres from Koblenz. At the heart of the company, an in-house design studio of three designers, supported by a graphic team, shapes the brand’s formal vocabulary season after season. Production is held to the same standards. Without its own factory but relying on a solid manufacturing network, ASA combines responsiveness and precision. Around 60% of the collections are produced in Portugal, a land of ceramics with remarkable know-how, while the remainder comes from overseas production—chosen not for cost reasons but for the technical quality of the workshops. This patiently built organisation allows ASA to maintain a consistently high level of excellence while adapting to the needs of a constantly evolving market. Over the years, ASA has successfully accompanied the major transformations of its time. Its model offers rare flexibility: the brand can launch capsule collections without compromising the longevity of its iconic lines, which will in fact be reinforced for the fiftieth anniversary, notably “À Table” and “Grande”. The company prefers to consolidate the future rather than multiply commemorative effects. This agility is also evident in the digital sphere. The brand invests in social media, refines its visual language and attracts a new generation of users, fostering a particularly positive online dynamic. A way of embedding its modernity over time while remaining faithful to the spirit that has guided it for fifty years.

ASA SELECTION dresses chefs’ tables: the rise in hospitality

While ASA Selection has won over the general public through the quality and originality of its creations, it has also gained remarkable credibility in the hospitality and foodservice sector. For 25 years, chefs have increasingly turned to the brand for the singularity of its forms, the robustness of its materials and the ease of use of its pieces in professional contexts. This strong presence in the sector has led to structuring partnerships, such as the long-standing cooperation with the European association of Young Restaurateurs (JRE), attesting to the relevance of its collections for the demanding uses of professional catering. Products must withstand mechanical shocks, repeated oven use and thousands of dishwasher cycles—a challenge that ASA pieces meet with ease.

The collections find their place in numerous prestigious hotels and restaurants, from Michelin-starred Parisian addresses to the most demanding establishments in the regions. They blend seamlessly into décors while adding that subtle stylistic nuance to which chefs are now deeply attached. Some pieces are now developed in direct collaboration with them. The “Koi” and “Kolibri” collections, designed with two-Michelin-starred chef Tim Raue, are prime examples. For years, ASA has also been selected by international airlines for their business-class service—a valuable recognition, given the extreme rigour of the tests imposed in this sector.

An anniversary that fully expresses the soul of the brand

This fiftieth anniversary is not merely a date. What it brings to light is the soul of a house whose aesthetic has never been disconnected from the human dimension. Behind every collection, behind every plate that finds its place on a family table or in a Michelin-starred restaurant, there is a way of “being in the world.” A refusal of standardisation. A fidelity to a vision. A family story that is passed on. And a sincere creativity, never opportunistic. At a time when brands are seeking to reinvent their identity, ASA Selection reminds us that there are still houses that have never stopped having one.

Source: Home Fashion News Jan26