Fritz Hansen

From its humble start and early experimentation with steam bending beech, Fritz Hansen pushed forward from its Germanic functionalist roots to develop a lighter Scandinavian style. By collaborating with leading Danish designers of the day, the company created and produced what are now classic design icons.

Arne Jacobsen dominated the firm's history with his breakthrough laminated 'Ant' Chair (1952) and the 'Series 7' chairs. The inspiration for the Ant chair came from Hvidt & Molgaard's AX-series, with it's revolutionary lamination technique and flat pack design. Fritz Hansen the company and Jacobsen went on to design for the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen the world famous 'Swan' (1958), and 'Egg'(1958) chairs.

Other influential designers to collaborate with Fritz Hansen were Kaare Klint, Hans J. Wegner (China Chair 1944) and Borge Mogensen (Spoke Back Sofa 1945). Piet Hein's elliptical table (1968) was a resounding success and in the 1970's Verner Panton came on board and challenged the status quo with his designs, moving things forward and keeping things fresh. In addition, the rights to produce a major part of Poul Kjaerholm's furniture collection was acquired in 1982.

Today, Fritz Hansen continues to collaborates with provocative and exciting contemporary designers such as Jaime Hayon and Cecilie Manz, from countries beyond the Danish border.