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Design Dishes, bowls, trays, vases, candlesticks, wood products, scarves, buttons and textiles. Yes, there is hardly any end to the products from the company Pure Culture in Kolding, which is among the exhibitors at Formland Autumn 2009 in Fairs MCH Herning.

Pure Culture was incorporated in 2004 by Trine and Torben Holm Larsen. They had for several years traveled to many tradition-rich countries in the Far East, South America and Africa, and it was on these trips that the inspiration for Pure Culture was created. The basic idea was – and is – to explore the many wonderful crafts that exist in countries from which it chooses the most exciting products and disseminates them in Scandinavia.

They thus established contacts with the best producers and subsequently imported the products. Additionally Pure Culture established local knowledge and quality control at production sites and from the first day Pure Culture took an active part in human rights, environment and anti-corruption.

Pure Culture then began to put their own stamp on these traditional handicraft products by linking the design staff with a wide network of Danish and foreign designers and artists. In this way, they always add to the products something new, a custom Scandinavian style and make them tomorrow’s trends.

Today, Pure Culture is a well established and dynamic company with a large group of customers at home and abroad.

At Formland Autumn 2009 the MCH Herning Fairs presents Normann Copenhagen, particularly Hang – a lamp designed by Rikke Hagen, who has combined form, function and aesthetics in a simple design. Hang is a part of the New Danish Modern, which are Danish designs and Danish production. The expression is a significantly shaped classical piece.

The inspiration behind Hang is retro forms that make Hang a classic design object that fits most homes. It is timeless and the epitome of design traditions that we are proud of in Denmark.

When we speak of Danish design, we speak often about function, aesthetics and form. Precisely these properties make Hang a good example. Hang is very simple and has a more functional than decorative expression. I think that is liberating, because if the lamp can wear it alone, it is complete. It is not postulated. It is what it is, explains Rikke Hagen.

Hang is produced using traditional methods of production of a metal printing on Amager. It’s glossy exterior and matt interior comes in black and white and in two sizes.

New Danish Modern is a new line from Normann Copenhagen, which has roots in the Danish design tradition where quality and attention to detail is a priority. The line is designed by Denmark’s best designers and is exclusively produced in Denmark with care for the design idea and crafts design. The concept is based on furniture art, so the line will be available in smaller productions.

Besides Rikke Hagen is currently supporting these Danish designers with the New Danish Modern: Ole Jensen, Jesper K. Thomsen, Søren Ulrik Petersen, Claydies, Peter Johansen & Thomas Bentzen and others.

April 2009

Georg Jensen Takes Danish Design to the Next Level

Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand Georg Jensen has appointed designer Todd Bracher Creative Director of the brand and head of a new creative force consisting of the Georg Jensen internal design team, the Georg Jensen designer network and Copenhagen based design consultants OeO. 

April 30, 2009 – Today Georg Jensen announced that Todd Bracher will take the reins at Georg Jensen as Creative Director, responsible for the full range of Georg Jensen products from jewellery and watches to flatware and hollowware. Todd Bracher will take up his new position on May 1st.  Together with Georg Jensen’s in-house product development team and Georg Jensen’s unique designer network, Bracher and OeO will energize and align the future design and brand vision. 

As part of the new strategy Todd Bracher will be working together with his long-time partner Thomas Lykke and Anne-Marie Buemann from OeO, a Danish based, and strategy-driven design company with vast experience from the design industry. The new set-up allows Georg Jensen to unite the best of today’s Danish and international design competencies with a strong strategic and commercial approach to new product introductions.  

“I am thrilled and honoured to be joining Georg Jensen. To be part of this brand and to help sculpt its vision has been a long-term dream for me. Georg Jensen has a specific language and intelligence, it communicates on so many levels.  The possibilities are endless and we intend to explore them”, Todd Bracher says. 

The appointment of Todd Bracher is part of the strategy that CEO Ulrik Garde Due introduced when he joined the company from British top fashion label Burberry last year. A strategy, which is turning the traditional Danish Silversmith into a Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand with an integrated product range. 

“Todd Bracher was an obvious choice for the position as Creative Director. He is perfectly aware of the brand’s many qualities and appreciates the craftsmanship and the unique sense of style. Yet, he has a young and fresh approach to continue the creative developments. I am convinced he will be able to take Georg Jensen to the next level”, Ulrik Garde Due says. 

Since 1904 Georg Jensen has succeeded in attracting and working with some of the most talented designers around the globe. One of these talented designers is Todd Bracher who has designed for Georg Jensen since 2004 and will now be in charge of identifying and supporting the next generation of design stars, joining such legendary artists as Georg Jensen, Arne Jacobsen and Henning Koppel. 

When, back in 1999, Todd moved to Denmark to study in Copenhagen at the Danish Design School he soon became fascinated by the Danish design tradition and shortly after launched his own beautiful sculptural furniture and home accessories for Danish and international companies such as Fritz Hansen and Zanotta. 

“The works of Georg Jensen himself, Henning Koppel and Arne Jacobsen have shaped who I am as a designer and are the very reason why I eventually moved to Denmark to look ‘behind the scenes’ at the source of these works. I discovered that the forms of the Georg Jensen collection capture the generosity and elegance that is built into the Danes and their way of life”, says Todd, who, at Georg Jensen, will be defining the brand’s future design philosophy.  

“Design is much more than creating forms and shapes. It is about the heart and mind that has produced it. For us to maintain brand coherence we must define what the heart must feel and the mind think and the rest will follow”, Todd Bracher says. 

Critics might argue that asking a foreigner to take the Georg Jensen design language into the future is not the obvious thing to do. That it would take a native Dane to understand the true essence of Georg Jensen – the tradition, the story and the role the Silversmithy has played in creating the term Danish Design. 

“The heritage is huge and the responsibility is vast. Part of Todd’s training was here in Copenhagen, which mixed with his international experience allows us to get an external point of view of Danish design with an internal understanding. For me it is bringing in the right person who in his soul understands where Georg Jensen is coming from and who has the skills, the courage and the ability to bring Georg Jensen and Danish design into the next century. To me Todd Bracher is that person,” Ulrik Garde Due states. 

Ulrik Garde Due, CEO  Todd Bracher, Creative Director

The idle life and the pioneering design are in focus at Formland Spring 2009 in MCH Messecenter Herning. CANDY is the theme when Scandinavia’s biggest flagship within decorative art, design and interior accessories opens from 30 January to 2 February 2009.

Now Formland launches its trend theme for the fair in the spring of 2009. CANDY will be a holistic experience where all senses are exited. The visitors will experience a universe of dynamism, colours and energy in MCH Messecenter Herning. The optimism gets a sugar fix and according to Project Manager Lars Jespersen there will be room for commercial, new and creative thinking.

- CANDY radiates optimism and new ideas at a time when the financial crisis also affects the design industry. It is an important factor that Formland rises to the occasion when the industry is having a hard time. First and foremost the fair is an important trading centre for the buyers – and here people get the latest inspiration. The visitors will therefore get a toolbox containing specific tools for implementing innovatory changes in their shop, Project Manager Lars Jespersen, MCH Messecenter Herning Kongrescenter explains.

The visitors will find that CANDY plays a unifying role throughout the fair. Both as regards colours and at the trend areas where the style is based on the theme. CANDY is also reflected in the food at the trend cafés and in the various talks with famous experts and people from the industry.

Think differently – THINK PINK

In the trend zone THINK PINK you will be able to have different, creative thoughts. Based on the colour pink which is one of the hottest colours of the season the stage is set for creativity, happiness and optimism in the zone. According to Trend Stylist Anette Eckmann those are important key words for obtaining the required progress it takes if you want to survive in the design sector.

- In times of recession we have to think differently and to be positive so the sentiment can be changed from negative to positive. Businesses managing to challenge the consumer’s endless desire for renewal will get out of the crisis successfully. THINK PINK is about daring to say yes to the future, to the hope and the new possibilities, Anette Eckmann from Eckmann Alive says. THINK PINK consists of products from Formland’s exhibitors – everything from famous brands to brand new designs.

New Note accelerates

The new and pioneering designs will yet again have their own area at Formland. The New Note area which includes well-known trademarks and brands, e.g. within furniture and interior accessories, was launched in the autumn of 2008 – and with great success. The area will be even bigger at the fair in 2009. The selection of brands has already started and Trend Consultant Mads Arlien-Søborg, who is the curator for the area, will be responsible for the selection. Among the New Note exhibitors you will find We do Wood, Mater, Lene Toni Kjeld and Sort of Coal.

It will also be here at the New Note area that you find the new and promising designs. Wildcards are granted to a number of new and talented designers who will exhibit their own products in the hall. The designers come from ‘Designskolen i Kolding’ (the design school in Kolding) and the Danish Design School in Copenhagen. 

Formland Spring 2009 will take place from 30 January to 2 February 2009 in MCH Messecenter Herning. Approx. 600 exhibitors will attend Scandinavia’s biggest trade fair for design, decorative art and interior accessories. In 2009 Formland can celebrate its 25th anniversary. This will be celebrated both at the fair in the spring and at Formland Autumn 2009, on 14-17 August. Read more about the fair and the trend theme CANDY at www.formland.com.

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