Milan Salone 2014 - Swedese
Maybe it's my Finnish background, but there is something about the timeless, classic Scandinavian designs of Swedese that delights again and again - never seeming to go out of fashion. I loved seeing Swedese in Milan as there is just something that 'feels like home' about Scandinavian design in comparison to Continental designer and British design. The use of natural materials, the techniques for shaping wood, the colours and textures of the fabric and the soft, subtle forms.
Swedese also pays homage, still to this day, to the great Scandinavian Modern designers (Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen and so on), keeping alive the great period of design that is still popular today (especially in Scandinavia, where people are reluctant to let go of those glory days of design).
From their Website:
Swedese also pays homage, still to this day, to the great Scandinavian Modern designers (Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen and so on), keeping alive the great period of design that is still popular today (especially in Scandinavia, where people are reluctant to let go of those glory days of design).
From their Website:
Swedese's ideals are the same today as they have been for the past sixty years. These are to create beautiful furniture for the future, which build on the foundations of Scandinavian modern traditions, designed by forward-looking designers who share in the timeless ideals of architecture.
Swedese was founded in 1945 by the two brothers Yngve and Jerker Ekström and Sven Bertil Sjöqvist, with Yngve leading the company until his death. The present owner of Swedese is Mrs. Elisabeth Johansson. The headquarters are located to Vaggeryd in Småland, Sweden, where one of the factories can be found. The second factory is located in Äng, a small village outside Nässjö, Sweden.
Many modernist architects were universal designers with not only a clear understanding of designing houses, but also the interior, the furniture and almost the clothes the owners might wear. Swedese's founder, Yngve Ekström, was no exception. Together with names including Alvar Aalto, Bruno Mathsson, Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjaerholm, Yngve Ekström was at the core of a generation of designers who made the concept "Scandinavian Modern" famous all over the world. With a keen eye, he designed Swedese's furniture, the head office building, logo, catalogues and personalised Christmas cards including their own poems. And so on.
The most well known design of Yngve Ekström's extensive portfolio is the Lamino armchair from 1956, which is still manufactured and sold all over the world. In 1999 the Lamino was voted the Twentieth Century's Best Swedish Furniture Design by the Swedish interior design magazine Sköna Hem.
