Against the Tide
Fritz Hansen’s VP for Asia Dario Reicherl shares the brand’s secret to maintaining success in the furniture industry with Eana Maniebo
Throughout its 145 years of existence, the Republic of Fritz Hansen has enjoyed massive success across the world. Since Danish carpenter Fritz Hansen founded the company in 1872, it has gone on to produce numerous iconic pieces. It has distinguished itself far from its competitors by following one atypical rule. “We don’t sell more, we sell better. We believe that slow will save the world, and fast will kill it,” says Dario Reicherl, Fritz Hansen’s vice president for the Asia Pacific and Middle East. “We create furniture that a family can keep for three generations, and because our pieces last longer, they are more expensive.”
The quality of Fritz Hansen’s creations has been proven through the test of time. Its pieces sit in old manors and major hotels in different parts of the world—its beauty still preserved despite many years of use.
As Denmark’s oldest luxury furniture company, Fritz Hansen was the first to define Danish design. “Around 60 per cent of the icons of Danish design are produced and owned by the company,” explains Reicherl, who visited the Philippines for the launch of the bigger and refurbished Fritz Hansen showroom in BGC.
Before the Ant chair was introduced in 1952, every other chair was designed similarly: big wooden chairs with upholstered seat cushions. The Ant chair’s arrival caused a stir in the furniture scene due to its fresh and timeless design. It received global acclaim and was followed by the Series 7 in 1955, the most produced and famous chair in the world, and the Egg chair three years later.
Its furniture are all handcrafted by creatively trained artisans to ensure that all the minute details are paid attention. An Egg chair, for example, has 1,150 stitches and takes five days to finish by hand. The company only uses machines on processes that are impossible to do by hand. Says Recheirl, “Aesthetics are not about being bigger or shinier. The real elegance for Danish design and for all the people who follow Fritz Hansen is in the details and its extremely high quality.”
The brand is not one to follow trends. Simple, elegant, and minimal are the three main characteristics of a Fritz Hansen piece—all three contribute to the timeless beauty stamped in all its creations.
Fritz Hansen is exclusively distributed by Studio Dimensione. Visit their showroom at One Parkade Bldg, BGC, Taguig City.