WM x FRITZ HANSEN

New Look for a Design Masterpiece

FRITZ HANSEN holds a wide array of timeless pieces in their collection, and it is always a challenge to find exceptional ways to collaborate. The up-and-coming fashion brand, White Mountaineering shares a similar approach toward creating exquisite designs by using natural materials and making use of their characteristics. Thus, a thrilling partnership is born for furniture seen from the perspective of fashion. 

Yosuke Aizawa, the founding designer of the brand White Mountaineering, is also an avid furniture collector. Over the years, he has admired the use of wood and leather in interior goods, and it was only natural that he selected the Grand Prix chair for this collaboration project. Grand Prix is Arne Jacobsen’s design triumph named after winning the Grand Prix during the 1957 Triennale in Milan, where it was exhibited. Aizawa was impressed by the chair’s potential and it reminded him of a mountain, a consistent concept within White Mountaineering. Additionally, among many pieces designed by Jacobsen, Grand Prix is the only piece with wooden legs. This further enhances the naturalness and rawness of the product.  

The chair is made from walnut shell and legs. It is front upholstered and the fabric features jacquard weaves created by Kawashima Selkon Textiles, the prestigious textile manufacturer based in Kyoto. It has a distinctive pattern called yosegi-zaiku, a type of traditional Japanese wooden mosaic, which Aizawa has employed as a motif for the interior of his store since the establishment of his brand. The weaving style of this fabric showcases the mosaic’s delicate handiwork and precise expression, and it is finished with a colour and texture that matches the wooden legs. This mosaic pattern embodies the feeling of reverence towards Japanese craftsmanship and symbolizes the attentiveness of White Mountaineering to materials, resonating with the traditional fabric-weaving craftsmanship of Kawashima Selkon Textiles.

This new look of the Grand Prix chair highlights FRITZ HANSEN’s craftmanship and the elegance it has maintained for more than 60 years since it was first launched. In line with Aizawa’s style, it is a superb fusion of Danish and Japanese sensibilities that has brought out the characteristics of the materials.

Grand PrixTM will be exclusively available for the Asian market as a limited edition of 300 pieces. Each chair will come with a limited-edition plate with an engraved serial number. It will be displayed in the store from September 2020 at FRITZ HANSEN authorized dealers in Asia. Prior to this, pre-order reservations will be available from July.

The chair will be shown for the first time to public in Tokyo with a pop-up installation at Strasburgo Ginza store from 5th to 15th August 2020. The installation is curated by flower artist Nicolai Bergmann.

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