Our Trip to Fritz Hansen

Dodds and Shute were very lucky to team up with Fritz Hansen for an exciting trip to a sunny Copenhagen. We were warmly greeted by Jack from Fritz Hansen, who escorted us on a short journey to Fritz Hansen HQ. As with most Scandinavian companies, there was a real team atmosphere and everyone was very welcoming.

Walking into the training area we were talked through Fritz Hansen’s history and got to see all the pieces that inspired their designers (such as Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjaerholm). We were then lucky enough to see Henning (who has been making pieces in the PK range for decades), assemble a canvas PK22 (in 20 minutes). The agreement with Poul Kjaerholm’s family is that all pieces must be produced and made in Denmark, something very refreshing to see.

We were given an explanation of how veneers are made and howthe individual layers of veneer are applied to make up one of the iconic series 7 chairs. We then met with Hans who tests all new leathers and materials on the Egg chairs. Hans challenged us to find a material that hasn’t been used on an Egg (he purchased vintage hats and clothing and used them on the chairs…)

We were extremely fortunate to have a tour from Christian, the head of design….we can’t tell you much more as we were taken into a highly secretive area to show us what’s in the pipeline….all we can say is watch this space.

We then followed on with a trip to the beautiful Fritz Hansen concept store, it’s a wonderful space and so nice to see all of the pieces in context and of course matched with amazing Dinesen flooring. The next day we made our way to the SAS royal hotel originally designed by Arne Jacobsen and had a personal tour from the General Manager, Brian Gleeson whose enthusiasm for the hotel was infectious. He has been there during the renovation and liaised closely with Space Copenhagen to ensure the renovation all goes to plan. We were given a tour of the different rooms and got a sneak peek into Space Copenhagen’s thought process and the thought that has gone into every room. Stefan’s favourite was the PK Signature room (we had a whistle stop tour before guests checked in). Finally we got to see the infamous room 606, which was the only room that was kept after the original renovation of the hotel. We also found out that during the initial renovation, egg and swan chairs were thrown out of bedroom windows into the skips waiting below…furniture sacrilege…fortunately some Danes saved some of the pieces!

The trip heightened our passion for Danish Design and Fritz Hansen, their classics are amazing and they have some great products in the pipeline which we know will help them to continue being one of the leading and most memorable brands we work with.