Sometimes behind the inspirational website, perfectly styled photos and glossy showroom, the very foundations of a design brand come down to two more fundamental things; fate and friendship.
This was certainly the case for forward-thinking Danish design company Form & Refine, who over the last five years, have become a leading example of what good looks like; both in terms of what they stand for and how they do it.
So, it was with immense excitement I chatted with one of their founders Lasse Lund Lauridsen recently, to find out more about them and to get a glimpse into their new collection:
Let’s start with an introduction. How would you describe Form & Refine? what you do and what you stand for?
It was nearly a decade ago now that Helle Herman Mortensen, Jonas Herman Pedersen and I met purely by chance at the Milano Salone del Mobili and became instant friends.
We quickly realised that we all shared the same long-term vision of creating a value-driven design brand of our own, one that explores materials while preserving our earth and craft cultures through an exceptional design philosophy.
How does this ethos of materiality, functionality and sustainability manifest itself in your designs?
At Form & Refine we produce long-lasting products that get more beautiful over time, and we do this by sourcing the purest materials of the highest quality.
Materials and sustainability are our great passions, and by choosing to work with neighbouring workshops and local craftspeople, who use the forest Damsbo on the island of Funen to source beautiful Danish ash, maple and oak we are able to also reduce our CO₂ footprint.
Meanwhile, we make and manufacture all our ceramics in the region of Alcobaça in Portugal preserving ancient pottery techniques and support a cooperative of alpaca farmers in the highlands of Bolivia through the art of weaving and the sharing of ancient wisdom.
Which Form & Refine product do you think embodies this most effectively and why?
I would say our ‘Blueprint Chair’ with its extraordinarily shaped seat, inspired by the human body which supports good posture and comfort, and the ‘A Line Storage Bench’ where practicality meets clean form.
Both are made from the world’s most sustainable materia: high quality oak, produced locally from nearby surrounding forests, and have the potential of becoming classic design pieces of the future.
How do you choose the designers and makers you collaborate with, and what values and principles are you looking for?
We hear about, search out and meet with many skilled designers. The personal touch is important to us so before working with anyone we always start by having a chat to see if our design language is the same.
While we continue to showcase the talents of designers from across the Nordic region, our only main designer is Jonas Herman Pedersen, because he fully understands our need and we fully trust his design in terms of form, material, functionality, and sustainability.
What are your priorities for the year ahead and what can we all look forward to seeing from Form & Refine?
In the future we would like to introduce more recycled materials in the form of a small accessories line. Apart from that we always try to create something that adds further functionality or fulfils a need, and our new collection certainly pays attention to that.
We also, instead of increasing prices, lowered them recently on several important lines like the ‘Angle Standard Stool’ and ‘Leaf Shelf’. At Form & Refine we believe a sustainable business is built on good relationships, meaning if our producers can offer the same high quality for less, we pass this saving on directly to our customers.
Thank you, Lasse for taking the time to chat with me, I for one wish more design brands were as dedicated to these issues as you.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
To find out more visit the Form & Refine website.
All images courtesy of Form & Refine.
Enjoyed reading this post? Then read my chat with co-founders of New Works, Knut Bendik Humlevik and Nikolaj Meier.
Leave a Reply