In crafting the world’s finest mattresses, HÄSTENS makes
a good night’s sleep the ultimate luxury.
Hästens, the Swedish bedmaker known for its horsetail-hair-stuffed mattresses with six-figure price tags, has been the ultimate purveyor of beauty sleep for more than 150 years. Founded in 1852, the family-owned brand produces handcrafted mattresses that are customized to accommodate everything from body composition to temperature preferences. A closer look at the meticulous and often months-long process of building a single Hästens mattress—each of which is created in the company’s state-of-the-art, Ralph Erskine–designed “Santa’s workshop” in Köping, Sweden—reveals why the blue-checkered mattress is still the king of beds.
Equine Inspiration
Hästens’s researchers call horsetail hair a “magic fiber” for its microscopic cavities. The hand-teased hair in each mattress helps offer support, circulate air, and wick moisture.
In Stitches
Hand stitching gives shape and stability to the sides of the mattress. The quantity and the spacing of the stitches vary by model.
Core Values
The blended filling is layered between springs that are built with a proprietary metal and shape-preserving coating.
Stuff It
Hästens’s longtime suppliers weave, color, and coil the horsetail hair to precise specifications. Once received, the ropes are separated into different lengths and microcurls before being teased and fluffed.
Take Cover
To create a mattress cover, fabric is hung for 3 days— removing any innate tension and attaining the optimum temperature and moisture levels—before being hand cut.
Putting It to Bed
Sewing tufts, loops, and quilted patterns helps lock the materials and create comfort. The mattress, base, and topper are then triple-checked for quality, completing a process that can take as much as 320 hours of labor.
Natural Benefits
The mattresses contain only sustainably sourced fill. Flax helps divert static electricity; fire-retardant, insulated wool blended with natural cottons helps regulate temperature and encourage ventilation.
Base Camp
High-quality pine from northern Sweden—where limited sunshine makes for slower-growing, more resilient trees—is used to craft the base. Cotton and flax help block dust and aid ventilation.