Design trade Now & then | Functionality as a design element

Georg Collection | design Christina Liljenberg  this year in Black! picture Trip trap

It’s August! and that brings back good memories from last year of decorating the Bloggerzone together with our Blogtour team at the first Design trade fair in Copenhagen. We wrote several posts about the fair for the Designtrade website, and so we did last February for the Stockholm Furniture and Light fair here and here. I still had some pictures I never posted so I thought it was a good opportunity to finally dig them out of my archives.

One of the things I pointed out when I visited the stands of the participating exhibitors at DesignTrade 2013 was the use of leather combined with wood or metal into new and reinvented products. Besides the use of materials, the design looked simple and familiar at first sight, as it has elements we all know. By the way they are constructed they emit a ” what you see is what you get’ and functionality has become a design element, which fits even now a year later! perfectly with this time.  

Stool | Georg Collection | design Christina Liljenberg Halstrom for Trip Trap| picture Vosgesparis

New line George by designer Christina Liljenberg Halstrøm for Trip Trap was definitely one of our favourites, a stool with a cushion hold together by a simple leather string and a wardrobe with a hanger that can be attached in many different ways. I recently showed some of Christina’s last work here on the blog: Minimal design tray. This year’s George serie comes in black wood! More pictures of the new black collection at Emma’s Designblogg

Dorm Cabinet/Picture rails| More Collection | Ferm Living | picture Ferm Living


Ferm Living, used harness leather belts in their More collection |Clothes hanger| that also included fiber cardboard boxes with leather handles, we got one with a delicious breakfast in it when we were invited for breakfast. And I recently showed it on Instagram 

The clothes rack was one of my favourites last year, and this month Ferm Living launched some additional product for the rack. More images at Label 1114 

Clothes rails | DesignTrine Andersen | More Collection | Ferm Living 


Boatswain chair| Ocean Going| Picture via Ocean going

2011 founded company Oceangoing brought their brand new chair on the market where European oak and a leather ship tool is combined. Not to sure if they launched something this year.


With the use of honest, natural materials and craftsmanship several talented Nordic designers presented their ideas on the trends of tomorrow on Talent Street. Jesper Su Rosenmeier used a combination of wood and leather in his clothes hangers.  

 Jesper Su Rosenmeier clothes hanger | Talent Street 2013| Picture Vosgesparis

Woven wood | Design Juan Cappa |  Woodmatters 2013 | Picture Vosgesparis

With ‘Wood matters’ seven young designers of the Swedish school of Craft and Design at Steneby showcased their design. Designers from four different countries. Who all had one thing in common, the passion for wood. This passion led them all to a tiny place in the middle of the Swedish forest. There, at Steneby the School of Craft and Design, they worked and lived together and had the freedom to derived inspiration of nature, space and from each other.  

Juan Cappa investigated traditional craft techniques related to weaving, caning, rushing and basketry, which has been the way of weaving since the beginning of civilisation and has strong significance related towards the connotation of hand made work. And this chair is the result of his personal investigation about the material and the traditional techniques

Were you at DesignTrade this month? What was your favourite?