The Monocle Minute
On Design

We’ve got a serious case of Stockholm syndrome this week as our editors and correspondents descend on the Swedish capital for its design week. We explore Svenskt Tenn’s celebration of modernist architect Joseph Frank, take a closer look at a historic armchair by Carl Hörvik, check out Grythyttan Stålmöbler’s outdoor furniture and talk shop with Stockholm-based furniture brand Contem (pictured). First, braving the cold for our Swedish special is regular Monocle contributor Gabriele Dellisanti.

For the duration of my flight to Stockholm I was mulling over a question: why is the city’s design week scheduled so early in the year? Sweden’s flagship event for the industry, which kicked off on Monday and is anchored by the Stockholm Furniture Fair, has evolved in recent years to include a host of exhibitions that take place in studios, shops and galleries across the capital. Designers and journalists hop between the trade hall and new product releases in showrooms across the city. So, why host it when the temperatures are freezing and the sun sets a little after 16.00?

I would soon chance upon a possible answer. I landed at Arlanda Airport on a cloudless Saturday; by the following evening, Stockholm was already abuzz with brands setting up their spaces ahead of the weeklong event, which runs until Sunday. I met two friends at the newly opened Stockholm Stadshotell, a well-appointed bolthole in a grand 19th-century building in Södermalm. Over drinks, one of them said, “It’s the perfect time to liven up the city.” Perhaps it’s as simple as that.

The event is smaller than many of its counterparts. Last June, Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design welcomed 100,000 visitors and some touted it as a potential rival to Milan’s Salone del Mobile, which is held every April and attracts some 370,000 visitors. But Stockholm is making a concerted effort to promote its design industry and is refusing to back down in the face of various challenges – including the city’s plan to sell the Stockholmsmässan pavilion, which is hosting this year’s Furniture Fair. Last year’s iteration attracted more than 18,000 visitors and investment has increased in 2025. But so too have the expectations that it could be bigger and better. It's an ambition that has been backed by Swedish brands such as String Furniture (pictured), whose trade-fair booth celebrates the continued evolution of the brand as its newest launches complement its existing catalogue. Fortunately, the crowds are rolling in once again (though perhaps a small part of the appeal is that it offers a sustained period of indoor warmth).

What has stood out most in my conversations with designers this week has been their enthusiasm for transforming the event from an industry gathering into a broader cultural moment. The fair expertly blends commerce, centred around trade deals at the Stockholmsmässan, with creative exhibitions across the capital. It’s a shift that strengthens designers’ ability to showcase their creativity and innovation to potential partners and buyers while also allowing them to engage directly with the public – the very people who they are designing for. So, why not mix up the gloom of winter with a quick visit to Stockholm? After all, what better occasion is there than a dark winter’s day to highlight one of Swedish design’s enduring strengths – its ability to create the most inviting interiors?

Gabriele Dellisanti is a writer and regular Monocle contributor. For more news and analysis, subscribe to Monocle today.

For the duration of Stockholm Design Week, local design agency Form Us With Love has transformed its space into a bustling hospitality outpost. Called Testing Grounds Bistro, it’s a pop-up spot for launching products that the studio has designed for three Scandinavian design brands: a modular lighting system for Sweden’s Blond; chairs and sofas for Danish furniture maker +Halle; and a modular storage platform for Malmö-based firm String Furniture.

These new wares are presented alongside food by the Bocuse d’Or-winning chef Albin Edberg and drinks by Lucy’s Flower Shop. “We thought it would be interesting to go beyond creating products and play around with what makes up a space,” Form Us With Love co-founder Jonas Pettersson tells The Monocle Minute on Design. Open studios and ateliers are nothing new at furniture fairs but initiatives such as the Testing Grounds Bistro give visitors the chance to experience products in a more contextualised setting, with good food and drink as an added bonus.
formuswithlove.se

Visit Testing Grounds Bistro at Norr Mälarstrand 58, Stockholm, for the duration of Stockholm Design Week.

Grythyttan Stålmöbler’s stand is an essential stop for anyone visiting the Stockholm Furniture Fair this week. The Swedish brand has been making outstanding outdoor furniture for 95 years. This year it is launching two reimagined chairs: the A2 Armchair, originally designed in 1930 by Artur Lindqvist, and the High Tech Chair, a 1984 work by Nisse Strinning.

Both designs are distinctive and robust. The A2 features handcrafted wooden arms and a steel frame, and is now available in green. The High Tech Chair, by contrast, is made from lacquered steel and comes in new ivory, petrol and chestnut colourways. As spring approaches, you might be considering how you’ll furnish your terrace, balcony or garden. Grythyttan Stålmöbler’s offering is the perfect place to start.
grythyttanstalmobler.com

Founded by childhood friends Cristian Lind and Jack Dalla Santa, Stockholm-based furniture brand Contem takes an unusual approach to sustainability. Both Lind and Dalla Santa believe that the best timber for making furniture is wood that has already been discarded. Often sourcing their raw material from demolition sites and logging projects, the duo transform it into striking contemporary chairs, tables, stools and benches.

Tell us about Contem’s design ethos.
Cristian Lind: We use discarded materials to create furniture, mainly working with resources here in Sweden. In recent collections we have used elm wood from deceased trees. Jack leads most of the design but both of us ensure that the material remains central. We focus on solid wood furniture that lasts years, keeping constructions simple.

Jack Dalla Santa: The materials guide our designs. We want to redefine reclaimed furniture, moving it away from the raw, DIY aesthetic that it’s often associated with. Our aim is to create something sustainable yet timeless and elevated, taking inspiration from classic designers who we love.

What can we expect from your exhibition at Stockholm Design Week?
CL: We’re showcasing a collection of objects created by Scottish-Swedish designer Nick Ross at the Public Service Gallery in central Stockholm. The pieces are made from 300-year-old linden branches, an endangered wood type that we sourced last May from an island near Stockholm. We want the objects to be viewed individually, like sculptures.

How did this collaboration come about?
CL: As soon as we took a boat out to visit the island, we knew that we had to do something with this material. So we brought Nick with us because we felt that he would be a perfect collaborator. The collection stays true to our principles – simple constructions, solid wood and timeless proportions – but with Nick’s perspective too.

JDS: It’s the first time that we have invited another designer into our process. Nick has a way of working that aligns with how we approach things. The branches dictated much of the design and it has been exciting to see how someone else interprets our way of thinking.

What are the benefits of sourcing and producing locally?
CL: Arborists notify us when they’re removing trees or large branches that would otherwise be burned for energy. We collect, cut and dry the wood before working with carpenters in Stockholm to turn it into furniture. Beyond supporting local carpenters, this allows us to be agile. We can send a drawing and have a prototype ready the next day, which would be impossible if we were producing our furniture abroad.

For more from Stockholm Design Week, tune in to ‘Monocle on Design’ on Monocle Radio.

Hundreds of exhibitors vie for attention at the Stockholm Furniture Fair. For a distinctly Swedish lesson on how to set up a successful stand, it’s worth looking back to the country’s contribution to the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. Its pavilion was an upscale but understated living room, furnished with pieces such as this armchair by Carl Hörvik. Simplicity proved a winning concept: the architect went home with the prestigious Grand Prix, while the pavilion amassed a total of 36 medals.

The secret to Sweden’s success might have been the fact that the furniture required close attention if you wanted to appreciate its exquisite craftsmanship. Only upon careful inspection could a visitor admire the Savonarola-style seat (a type of chair with an X-shaped frame) covered in padded black leather, with its decorative backrest of hand-woven rattan and oak inlaid with three kinds of timber. A century later, the chair can be found in Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum. Make sure to stop by while you’re in town.

Jenny Kästel Tavassoli has been the head of creative agency Dry Studios since 2023. The studio specialises in interior projects and design, incorporating everything from paintings and ceramics to furniture. For Stockholm Design Week, it has reconfigured its space in the city’s central Vasastan neighbourhood.

The main room’s deep-blue walls serve as a striking backdrop for the studio’s creations: wooden stools with subtly irregular outlines, a birch-veneer dining table with a geometric structure and organically shaped ceramic sculptures. The aim is to offer a glimpse into Dry Studios’ design language, which is underpinned by a deep commitment to craftsmanship and rooted in the abundant use of wood and natural materials to bring warmth to interiors. “It’s not about narrowing our focus,” says Tavassoli. “We constantly come up with new ideas and want this space to showcase the full breadth of our work and what our clients can expect from us.”
drystudios.com

Visit Dry Studios during Stockholm Design Week at Upplandsgatan 36, Stockholm.

For Stockholm Design Week, Swedish heritage brand Svenskt Tenn has reimagined its Östermalm exhibition space to celebrate the rugs that form part of modernist architect Joseph Frank’s interior philosophy. Titled Frank in the Loom, the showcase presents a collection of chequered rugs in blue, yellow, pink and green, made from repurposed fabrics originally designed by the architect in the 1940s and Svenskt Tenn’s solid linen. Produced in limited batches, the designs are set alongside a selection of furniture pieces in bold, contrasting colours. “Frank believed that home walls should always be white, with furniture and objects bringing character through colour,” says Karin Södergren, Svenskt Tenn’s head curator.

The space reflects the brand’s penchant for vibrant hues and maximalist patterns in its textiles and furniture upholstery, offering a contrast to the pared-back style often associated with Swedish design. The showcase also pays homage to traditional weaving techniques and features Svenskt Tenn’s collaboration with a Ukraine-based textile workshop run by women who relocated near the Romanian border after Russia’s invasion. “Small-scale, well-made production has been at the heart of this company for more than a century,” says Södergren. “That is what we’re celebrating.”
svenskttenn.com

‘Frank in the Loom’ is on show at Svenskt Tenn, 5 Strandvägen, Stockholm.