On Design 55: Ella Hansen – the woman who saved Carl Hansen and Søn

Furniture manufacturer Carl Hansen and Søn is a third-generation family-run Danish business. It was established by Carl Hansen in 1908, taken over by his son Holger Hansen in 1934 and then run by his two grandsons, first Jørgen Gerner and now Knud Erik. What most accounts of the company tend to gloss over, however, is the 20 years for which Holger’s wife Ella Hansen ran the company.