Svenskt Tenn begins an exclusive partnership with Michael Anastassiades and FLOS

The Historical and Contemporary Design exhibition opens today with both new product releases and new products being shown for the first time. Among other things, Michael Anastassiades has designed three new lamps for Svenskt Tenn, produced by FLOS.

“This is really an exciting collaboration where Michael Anastassiades has designed lamps exclusively for Svenskt Tenn, produced by FLOS. Discussions and thoughts about a collaboration have been going on for a long time and a key factor contributing to FLOS CEOPiero Gandini’s willingness to do this is that Svenskt Tenn is owned by a foundation and all of the profits generated by the company go into research,” says Thommy Bindefeld, marketing manager and creative director.

Svenskt Tenn collaborated with Michael Anastassiades already in 2013 with the To Be Perfectly Frank exhibition, where, among other things, Anastassiades’ Flight lamp, made with a hand-stitched silk shade, was presented in a limited edition. Flight has now returned, thanks to minor product adjustments and, above all through the unique production techniques of FLOS, which can be likened to spinning sugar. At the same time, the table lamp has been further developed into a family of lamps consisting of a hanging ceiling lamp and a fixed ceiling fixture.

A new coffee table is also being launched for the Historical and Contemporary Design exhibition, designed by architect Per Öberg and handcrafted at a metal workshop in Skellefteå. Two smaller round side tables in metal, laser cut and handcrafted at a smithy in Sörmland, are being launched from the young Norwegian designer Marianne Andersen, who previously designed the Gömma series in pewter for Svenskt Tenn.

Svenskt Tenn’s archives contain thousands of drawings, photographs, sketches and prototypes of products that have been and are in production, while others have not yet seen the light of day. For the

Historical and Contemporary Design exhibition, Svenskt Tenn’s creative team combed the archives to find classics that work equally well today. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, architect and designer Björn Trägårdh was an important partner for Estrid Ericson and Svenskt Tenn. Now, an upholstered sofa is being re-launched, designed in accordance with Trägårdh’s instructions from the 1930s, with the help of a drawing and the model that Svenskt Tenn has in its archives.

“It is nice to see how new and old products come together to form a beautiful whole. This is how we continue to develop Svenskt Tenn, through mixing the past and the present. It is an important part of the heritage we’re managing from the founder Estrid Ericson,” says Thommy Bindefeld.

In addition to the Flight collection, the Lidingö coffee table by Anastassiades, originally designed for the 2013 exhibition, will be re-launched.

The Historical and Contemporary Design exhibition will be held from August 14 – September 13 in the Strandvägen gallery at Svenskt Tenn.