Held in June, Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design has grown into Scandinavia’s premier design event. This year, showrooms and stores of various design brands were brimming with new product launches and parties. Despite the chilly rain showers, the atmosphere remained enchanting and warm. Design Stories visited Copenhagen along with Mikko Puttonen – welcome to join us!
COPENHAGEN’S 3 Days of Design brings together the most important design brands from Denmark and other Nordic countries. This city-wide event has surpassed traditional trade fairs, now catering not only to retailers and design professionals but also to consumers, with showroom doors open to all.
In this Design Stories article, we highlight some of our favorites from Copenhagen. We were assisted by our team along with influencer and photographer Mikko Puttonen, based in Helsinki and London, whose insights from Copenhagen can be found in the highlights of Finnish Design Shop's Instagram account.
“The atmosphere at 3 Days of Design is always so welcoming and warm. I love how friendly everyone is and it feels like you are invited to the brands’ living rooms. This time the weather was a bit unstable with a mix of all seasons in one day but it didn’t matter. I had such a great time; seeing old friends and meeting new ones was lovely,” Mikko Puttonen says.
And the best part? Some of these new products will be arriving at Finnish Design Shop as early as this summer and fall!
Vaarnii
Finnish brand Vaarnii is currently enjoying well-deserved hype. Specializing in pine furniture and lighting, the brand has attracted design superstars like Ronan Bouroullec and, most recently, Faye Toogood. Toogood’s Peace lounge chair, designed for outdoor use, has already become a hit. She also participated in a breakfast discussion with Vaarnii’s founders, Antti Hirvonen and Miklu Silvanto.
“I was thinking of the simplicity and the playfulness of the pine, and the way that we could potentially work with that. I chose lollipop sticks as my way of creating the design. It was great fun, and at some point, our studio was full of lollipop sticks when we were modeling the design. Then the Peace chair evolved during that process,” Faye Toogood said.
At Copenhagen, Vaarnii also unveiled their new Aamu wooden bed frame, which we hope to hear more about soon!
GUBI
One of GUBI's most intriguing new designs is the Gravity Stripes table lamp, which will be available exclusively at Finnish Design Shop this fall. GUBI has developed a technique to repurpose valuable marble remnants into a new, striped lamp base. Each lamp is a unique piece, and the stripes give the lamp, designed by Space Copenhagen, an entirely new look.
In their Tactile Encounters exhibition, GUBI also showcased fantastic new releases from Pierre Paulin's archives, sure to delight fans of 1970s style. We’ll hear more about these armchairs and other new GUBI designs soon.
Hem
What a surprise! Beloved designer Yrjö Kukkapuro's classic chairs, exuding the spirit of the 1980s, took center stage at the Swedish brand Hem's exhibition. The armchairs from Kukkapuro's Experiment series have found their way into Hem's collection, and a preview was showcased in Copenhagen.
The Kukkapuro seats produced by Hem will also be available at Finnish Design Shop later this year. This is truly a fantastic collaboration, and we are delighted to see Finnish design receiving the international recognition it deserves.
HAY
HAY House in central Copenhagen was once again dressed for celebration, bustling with trade fair visitors. The top floor was taken over for the duration of the event by the popular Italian restaurant LOCALE 21, where HAY’s lovely Barro tableware could be tested in action.
“Our intention with HAY House has always been to create a place where our brand can be experienced in full – a welcoming place that invites conversations, dialogue, and fosters relationships with guests and experiences with our products,” explains Mette Hay, Creative Director of HAY Accessories.
The HAY House showcased new furniture, lighting, and interior products. Some of our favorites included the Colour Rack clothing racks by Muller van Severen and the angular Facet cabinet by Studio Stefan Scholten. Another eye-catching piece was the new version of the Palissade lounge chair, combining a steel frame with a woven seat – although these outdoor chairs won’t make it to the terrace this summer, we’ll be hearing more about them soon!
&Tradition
One of &Tradition’s most exciting new releases was the floor lamp from the immensely popular Flowerpot series. We predict this will be the next big hit! It is available in four different color options: matte black, chrome, cobalt blue, and gray-beige.
The showroom also featured furniture by British designer Robin Day (1915–2010), which &Tradition has incorporated into their classic collection. The desks, chairs, and outdoor furniture were originally designed in 1951. Among the entirely new products, Jaime Hayón’s charming blue Archivo bookshelf caught our attention.
• All products by &Tradition >
Normann Copenhagen
Let’s celebrate! Normann Copenhagen, a pioneer in modern Danish design, is turning 25 years old. Of course, new products were also showcased during the 3 Days of Design, with Simon Legald’s new Tube lounge chair standing out. Rounded shapes, chrome, and Bauhaus-inspired metal frames were clear trends this year.
• All products by Normann Copenhagen >
Louis Poulsen
Louis Poulsen is also celebrating an anniversary – the lighting manufacturer is marking an impressive 150 years. Congratulations! The iconic Artichoke pendant lamp, designed by Poul Henningsen in 1958, was in the spotlight, with its components displayed in a giant size in the A Heart of Light art installation outside the showroom. Visitors could also see how the Artichoke was assembled by hand.
• All products by Louis Poulsen >
Muuto
On Muuto's courtyard, a preview of Anderssen & Voll’s new Settle outdoor furniture was showcased. These pieces blur the line between indoor and outdoor furniture. The shape and materials of the seating would fit perfectly in a living room, yet they are, of course, at their best when used outdoors.
Another interesting new addition to Muuto’s collection is Jamie Wolfond’s screw-like Set table lamp, which allows you to adjust the brightness by rotating the shade. The industrial design makes this large lamp a focal point in any interior.
+ 1: Unexpected collaborations
Unexpected collaborations were one of the highlights of this year’s 3 Days of Design: for example HAY and Asics, Tekla and Artek, and Frama and Faye Toogood joined forces, and many found the results highly successful.
“My personal favorite this year was Frama: I loved their collaboration with Faye Toogood and how they turned the space around. They showed that you don’t always need to showcase a crazy amount of new products; a few brilliant ones are enough – like Frama’s new tableware made of recycled glass,” says Mikko Puttonen.
Artek and Tekla brought Aino Aalto into the spotlight together, presenting a series of bed linens featuring Aalto’s delicate Kirsikankukka pattern.
HAY, on the other hand, teamed up with Japanese brand Asics, resulting in a collection of sneakers, socks, and bags. The Skyhand OG sports shoes, first introduced in 1994, may be familiar from years past, but the new colors are a creation of the HAY team. Absolutely refreshing!
See also:
• New arrivals at Finnish Design Shop >
Text: Design Stories Images: Puttonen Ruska