Hans J. Wegner x Ilse Crawford

More than 70 years after Carl Hansen & Søn and Hans J. Wegner introduced the world to modern Danish design, a special limited edition collection of the first five chairs Wegner designed for Carl Hansen & Søn. Ilse Crawford's interpretation for Carl Hansen & Søn has been made with the utmost respect for the original design. They are all made with the highest quality materials and the exquisite craftsmanship you would expect from Carl Hansen & Søn.

— We wanted to develop a set of colours that reflect the times we live in. These are not simple standard decorative colours that are trend-driven. The colours add complexity and depth to the interiors they are placed in.

The colours are inspired by expressionist artist Per Kirkeby, and look to the Nordic landscape in their tones. Each colour has a transparent finish that allows the grain of the wood to shine through and create additional texture.

Carl Hansen & Søn chose to bring in Ilse Crawford because of the designer's unmistakable sense of how furniture is placed in a space. Together with Wegner's understanding of the atmosphere a piece of furniture creates, they have created a bold reinterpretation of chairs that became immortalised 70 years ago.

— I see the colours as ingredients to create an atmosphere. They are not chosen to match anything in particular, but are completely independent and instinctively beautiful. They have their own truth and therefore fit anywhere, says Ilse Crawford.

Architect and furniture designer Hans Jørgn Wegner was born in 1914 in Tønder, southern Denmark, and trained as a carpenter, partly as an apprentice with cabinet maker H.F. Stahlberg at the age of 14. He moved on to Copenhagen where he studied at the School of Arts and Crafts. In the 1950s, Wegner began his long-standing collaboration with furniture manufacturer Carl Hansen. During his lifetime, Wegner became one of the most influential furniture designers in Denmark and the world.

Wegner's innovative approach to design contributed greatly to what we now refer to as 'Scandinavian minimalism', and Wegner was one of the forerunners of what has come to be known as the 'golden era' of Danish modern design. Often referred to as the 'master of the chair', he said that Danish design was always about breaking down and simplifying through the process. A design as simple as four legs, a seat and a combined back and armrest was really all you needed.

British designer Ilse Crawford's path to widespread fame began when she founded Studioilse, which in the early 2000s designed Soho House in New York, Mattias Dahlgren's restaurant at the Grand Hotel, and the hotel Ett hem in Stockholm, among many others. Today, there is very little that Crawford has not done. She has collaborated with everyone from Georg Jensen to Kasthall, and works to create what she calls humanistic design - form that can make us better people.

Carl Hansen & Søn's limited edition collection Reimagining the Classics with Ilse Crawford is available at Nordiska Galleriet from 1 May 2021.