Design House Stockholm

Design House Stockholm

Type	Privately held
Industry	Design, retail
Founded	January 29, 1992[1]
Founder(s)	Anders Färdig
Headquarters	Stadsgården 6 10 TR, 116 45 Stockholm,Sweden
Products	Furniture, Lighting, Fashion, Tableware
Revenue	102 million SEK (2012)[1]
Employees	57 (2012)[1]
Website	www.designhousestockholm.com

Design House Stockholm is a publishing house for Scandinavian Design.^[2]

History

Design House Stockholm was founded in 1992 by Anders Färdig,^[3] who had previous owned the brands Höganäs and Boda Nova.^[4] Using his vast knowledge in design management from prior experience managing Boda Nova and Höganäs,^[5] Färdig created a network of independent designers that remains the platform from which Design House Stockholm operates today.^[2] In 1997 the Design House Stockholm product collection was launched, starting with Harri Koskinen’s Block Lamp that immediately became a worldwide success Harri Koskinen’s Block Lamp designed in 1996 - which still remains among Design House Stockholm's best selling products,^[2] and have won several awards.^[6] Design House Stockholm has distinguished itself as a publisher of design rather than an average producer, in the same way publishing houses work with authors: rather than selecting designers to design a specific product. Design House Stockholm let designers present their personal ideas, of which some are selected for production.^[5] The company’s CEO Anders Färdig says Design House Stockholm’s ambition is to be a mirror of the very best Scandinavian design today - the term ‘Scandinavian’ referring to a philosophic and aesthetic perspective, rather than geography and nationality.^[2] Färdig also points out that: "We are a product dropper, not a name-dropper". This is not a political statement; it is a philosophy.^[3] The company is represented in MoMA’s permanent collection by Harri Koskinen’s Block Lamp since 2000,^[7] and Timo Sarpaneva’s Timo Glass.^[8]

Brand philosophy

“Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.”^[9]

Designers

Over 60 independent designers are represented in the company’s collection; including internationally known names such as A & E Design, Ann Wåhlström, Form Us With Love,^[10] Stig Lindberg, Lena Bergström, Monica Förster,^[11] Magnus Löfgren, Mattias Stenberg,^[12] Nina Jobs, and Signe Persson-Melin.^[2] The company also has distinguished itself by often choosing young, promising designers in addition to more established names,^[13] such as the graduation projects Numb by Anna Bonnevier, a fashion collection, Family Chairs^[14] by Lina Nordqvist, Twist Table by Philip Edis,Cloud Reclining Chair by Lisa Widén,^[2] Jonas Hakaniemi’s Box Light, and not least Block Lamp by Harri Koskinen. All made by then unknown but very talented people, all now awarded with some of the most prestigious design awards, all now modern classics.^[15]

The Atelier Collection

In 2009 H&M Creative Advisor Margareta van den Bosch joined Design House Stockholm’s board of directors,^[16]<ref name=catalogue/^[2] and Design House Stockholm launched it first Atelier collection, limited studio editions sold only in DHS’ own stores: Orb - a couture collection by Anna Bonnevier^[2] Today, the Atelier collection is extended and is represented by four designers; Monica Backström,^[17] Anna Kraitz,^[18] Katrin Greiling^[19] and Johanna Thörnqvist^[20]

The Elsa Beskow Collection

Design House Stockholm, was contacted by Christian Wallin, Head of licensing and merchandising at Bonnierförlagen.^[21] The Bonnier Publishing House asked if Design House Stockholm was interested in a partnership with one of Sweden’s most beloved illustrators and artists - Elsa Beskow.^[22] Thus was born the collaboration between the two well-known Swedish publishing houses. Under the supervision of the family and relatives who care for Elsa Beskow works, designer Catharina Kippel^[23] was permitted to pick "picture quotes"^[24] from the original works. Her interpretation of Elsa's fairy tales highlight Elsa's sense of humor and her inspired interpretations of nature and animals. Elsa Beskow was involved in issues that we still deal with today; everybody's right to knowledge, women's emancipation, and that nature is something we do not shape - but are shaped by! Design House Stockholm launched their first Elsa Beskow collection in Spring of 2013. Catharina Kippel has found her inspiration in fairy tales "The Flowers’ Festival", "Aunt Brown’Birthday", “Christopher’s Harvest Time" and "The Curious Fish ". Elsa Beskow's cultural heritage is a great source to draw from, and the collection will evolve over time. Design House Stockholm and Catharina Kippel have since then added products for the fall and Christmas 2013.^[25]

The Glass Scholarship for Beckmans College of Design

The scholarship is arranged by Design House Stockholm in collaboration with Beckmans College of Design^[26] in Stockholm since 2011, as a part of a workshop in glass design. It allows the student to realize his/hers project in a limited edition. Minna Magnusson was awarded the 2013 Glass Scholarship. Magnusson´s project will be part of Design House Stockholm collection 2015.^[27] Previous winners are: Erika Gunnerblad^[28] and Amanda Karsberg.^[29]

Vet Hut

In 2011, Design House Stockholm opened the glassware studio Vet Hut, a small scale glassworks focused on producing high quality glass by designers like Erik Höglund, Timo Sarpaneva, and Signe Persson-Melin.^[30]

Stores

Design House Stockholm has six concept/shop-in-shop stores: Illums Bolighus in Copenhagen and Oslo, Selfridges in London, NK in Stockholm, NK in Gothenburg and Zinc Details in San Francisco. Design House Stockholm’s products are also on sale at prominent design stores such as Museum of Modern Art in New York and Conran Shop in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Vinçon and Pilma in Barcelona, Spazio Sette in Rome, and R.G. Madden in Melbourne and Sydney.^[31] Design House Stockholm also collaborates with Starbucks since 2004, designing a line of tableware products.^[32] In 2010, Design House Stockholm launched the store concept OPEN in Båstad, followed by another store in Boda 2011. OPEN sells Scandinavian design products and locally produced crafts products.

External links

• Design House Stockholm’s official website

References