Visionaries – the next Danish design classic
There are chairs – and there are Wishbone chairs. Created in 1949 by Hans Wegner, they encapsulate the best of Scandinavian design: cool, self-contained lines, unassuming beauty and surprising functionality.
Following in the footsteps of Wegner and his peers, the Scandi aesthetic is now defined by artful understatement. It’s there in the floating shelves, the well-weighted lamps, the precise seams of a wool coat. The region’s best design has a light touch, a perfect confluence of form and function.
Danish eyewear brand Lindberg takes this philosophy and brings it to a more personal – and highly wearable – level. Acolytes of Danish design will find themselves naturally attuned to Lindberg’s clean, unassuming approach. Founded in 1986 by architect Henrik Lindberg and his optometrist father, Poul-Jørn Lindberg, the brand is known for frames that – like Wegner’s chairs or a Louis Poulsen PH 5 pendant lamp – are adorned with discretion and distinctive in construction. Lightweight, strong and made without rivets or screws, they can even be personalised in ways that you might not have considered: colour and size, of course, but how about the nose pads or temple width? The result is a billion configurations – and, more importantly, glasses that suit all faces and fit perfectly.
Material experimentation provides further ties to Danish design tradition. Lindberg uses different materials for different styles, yet the popularity of its sleek titanium frames endures. The spring/summer 2025 collection expands on two of its most iconic ranges: the air titanium rim, with its spiral hinge and ultra-thin wire frames, and the n.o.w. titanium, known for its minimalist details. Both ranges maintain their original DNA while introducing subtle updates: wider temples, elongated end pieces and a dash of nostalgia. The spiral hinge remains a feat of engineering, developed in the 1980s in collaboration with Copenhagen-based architects Dissing+Weitling to prevent the need for screws that must be retightened.
The design is also impossibly chic. The new sun titanium collection plays to another Danish strength: a confident use of colour. Inspiration came from artist Olafur Eliasson’s “Your Rainbow Panorama” installation in Lindberg’s home city of Aarhus. The bold hues give the brand’s timeless silhouettes a playful modern injection.
Modern design owes a great debt to the ever-stylish Danes and Lindberg eyewear is a natural extension of a world lit by Arne Jacobsen lamps and beautified by Muuto ceramics. Only now, that world can be seen much more clearly.
