Bringing Miele quality outdoors
In 2026, Miele will officially enter the outdoor cooking market with a complete ecosystem that redefines premium. The new Outdoor Cooking range extends Miele’s renowned indoor craftsmanship to the garden - with grills, gas cooktops, over-fired broilers, sinks, cabinets, refrigerators, and connected apps forming a seamless modular system.
At the heart of this launch sits the Outdoor Cooking Configurator - Miele’s first fully 3D digital product experience. It allows customers to visualise and design their ideal outdoor kitchen, combining modules, accessories and appliances to fit their lifestyle, space and imagination.
“It’s the biggest product launch in Miele’s recent history,” says Brano. “And because it’s such a modular ecosystem, customers need to be able to visualise how it all comes together.”
From start-up roots to Miele scale
The journey began when Miele acquired the start-up Otto Wilde, known for its high-performance grills and outdoor cooking innovations. Rather than simply adopting Otto Wilde’s tools, Miele saw an opportunity to reinvent the digital experience from the ground up. “Otto Wilde already had a configurator,” explains Eddie. “So, people had ideas about what they did and didn’t like. We took those insights and built something that truly reflected Miele’s design philosophy.”
For Miele X, this was also uncharted territory. “We’ve always worked in 2D,” says Brano. “This was our first step into a fully 3D environment - not just for e-commerce, but for our Miele Experience Centres too. Customers will be able to use tablets in-store to create their configuration in real time.”
Creating your dream, module by module
The configurator will launch in early 2026 alongside the Outdoor Cooking range, beginning in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It features both pre-configured “Dream” sets - for inspiration - and a free-build mode that lets users design from scratch.
“Some people want a simple setup with a grill and side tables,” says Eddie. “Others want a complete outdoor kitchen with sink, refrigerator and broiler. The configurator makes it personal - it’s about creating your dream.”
Managing complexity - and expectations
Building a 3D configurator in just over a year required coordination across many teams and opinions. “There were a lot of stakeholders,” Eddie admits. “Everyone had ideas from the Otto Wilde days - some of which we wanted to keep, some not.”
