Tucked away on central Copenhagen’s Paper Island – a repurposed industrial area teeming with creative ventures – you will find Danish furniture and lighting manufacturer &tradition. The company was started in 2010 with the vision to provide access to iconic designs of yesterday while also creating the potential classics of tomorrow by scouting talents both in and outside of the Nordic countries. Though the company is young, their roster of designers is impressive: not only do the Danish greats like Arne Jacobsen and Verner Panton make an appearance, but also the likes of the immensely talented contemporary Italian designer Luca Nichetto and the visionary and fanciful Jaime Hayon from Spain.
The company operates with a dual focus: their Nordic heritage – with its focus on quality, timeless aesthetics, handicraft, and respect for nature – is inseparable from their identity, but of equal importance to the brand is representing designers with a firm basis in innovation. The fact that they source talent from around the world and of different generations and backgrounds deepens their creative pool and gives the company a cosmopolitan edge. This marriage of tradition and innovation manifests through modern concepts, materials, and manufacturing techniques. With a strong current of curiosity &tradition are intrigued by designs that manage to test the limits of materials and form or put a new spin on an existing element, designs that embody the dualism of tradition and revolution.
The company’s impressive Paper Island showroom is a further testament to its inventiveness: housed in a massive warehouse, they have designed it to display the full range and diversity of their collections – twelve distinct spaces show how pieces can adapt to their environment and bring life and character to a room. Their library of furniture and lighting spans from the 1930s all the way to tomorrow, and expresses a kinship and dialogue between contemporary voices and the old masters who were the inventors of their time.