Hiroshi Fujiwara Built a House Around Bang & Olufsen in the ’90s. Their First Collaboration Has Finally Arrived

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Summary

  • Bang & Olufsen and fragment design have announced a collaboration spanning four products: the Beosound A1 portable Bluetooth speaker, Beoplay H100 headphones, Beosound Shape wall-mounted speaker, and Beosound 9000 CD player
  • The collaboration introduces a brand-first finish for Bang & Olufsen: a highly specialized anodizing and hand-polishing process that produces a liquid-like glossy black surface across all four products
  • Sales begin May 20 with a popup at Isetan Shinjuku, followed by Hankyu Men’s Osaka in June and Iwataya Honten in July; select items available at Bang & Olufsen Omotesando and the official online store from May 27

Bang & Olufsen and fragment design are teaming up on a new collection, a collaboration that fragment design’s Hiroshi Fujiwara has envisioned for about 30 years. The four products in the line all share a unique, glossy black finish created with a special anodizing and polishing process. They will be available starting May 20th at Isetan Shinjuku.

The story of how this partnership began is key. Back in the 1990s, Fujiwara was so determined to have Bang & Olufsen’s Master Link system that he actually designed his house around it, carefully concealing all the wiring. This wasn’t just a casual business deal; it was a deep commitment. Fujiwara’s claim that collaborating with the brand is meaningful is proven by the fact that he built a home to showcase it.

The collaboration showcases the best of both brands. fragment design brought its signature black aesthetic, not through logos or graphics, but through a unique finish created with Bang & Olufsen – a first for the company. This involved a special anodizing process and hand-polishing, resulting in a surface that looks fluid, unlike typical matte or glossy finishes. Achieving this required entirely new manufacturing techniques. The collaboration is featured on four iconic Bang & Olufsen products: the portable Beosound A1 speaker, the Beoplay H100 headphones, the wall-mounted Beosound Shape, and the Beosound 9000 CD player – the most striking and central piece of the collection.

The Beosound 9000 deserves special recognition. First released in 1996 and designed by David Lewis, it’s considered one of Bang & Olufsen’s most visually striking creations. This horizontal CD player holds six discs on a rotating carousel, beautifully displayed between two glass panels. It was intended to be wall-mounted and admired as a design piece as much as an audio player. Finished in fragment design’s unique liquid black, it blurs the line between sound equipment and sculpture. It’s the type of object Hiroshi Fujiwara would have designed a room around in the 1990s, and it perfectly embodies the aesthetic he’s refined over the last thirty years.

The new collection created by Fragment Design and Bang & Olufsen will first be available on May 20th at Isetan Shinjuku. It will then launch at Hankyu Men’s Osaka on June 3rd and Iwataya Honten on July 1st. Starting May 27th, you can find a limited selection of items at Bang & Olufsen Omotesando and on the official online store.

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2026-05-20 14:26