'Have a Seat'

A dream first starts with an obsession. Realizing it, takes passion.

Henrik Lange was just six years old when he bought his own Kive desk chair by Fritz Hansen. Little did he know that it would be the beginning of his obsessive furniture collecting and also a prequel to a love affair with Fabricius & Kastholm.

In an interview with City Magazine, Lange reveals that anyone can turn an obsession into a lucrative venture.

Danish architects Preben Fabricius and Jorgen Kastholm founded their design firm in 1961, creating their line of Danish furniture for only eight years. International critics grouped the duo with the likes of other greats like Hans Wegner and Poul Kjaerhom. But a personal battle waged between the two caused a permanent rupture and production ceased.

Furniture enthusiast Lange found himself attracted to the vintage F&K furniture more than 25 years after the defunct company disappeared from the furniture scene. The clean lines and silhouettes of the leather and steel pieces, unusual for the time, were what lured him into buying a few F&K chairs at an antique shop.

But it was an auction over the iconic F&K Grasshopper chair (similar to the one above) that sold for 45,000 Euros that would cause Lange to think: Would it be possible to revive and produce the line, returning it to its former glory?

The answer was: Why not?

“I didn’t think much of the obstacles at the time,” Lange told City Magazine. “It was more of a fantasy.”

Reality settled in once Lange completed the superhuman task of wooing and buying the rights to the company from Kastholm. Fabricius had since died in the 1980’s at the age of 52. And the only conditions to be met were that Lange reproduce the entire collection and that the quality of the line match the original.

This wasn’t a problem for Lange who returned to the original F&K production factory where workers molded the steel arms of the chairs and sanded down the rosewood seats.

“All great companies are built on passion,” said Lange, who now reproduces the line under the auspices of Lange Production.

Passion and excellence, I’d say.

The resurrected F&K line has received positive reviews not only from City Magazine, but other top design publications. New designers such as Grete Jalk, who’s GJ Chair and Nesting Tables are permanent fixtures at MoMa, are also in talks to get onboard.

Living by his vision of form, finish and function (the three F’s), this is one show you better take a seat for. You won’t want to miss it.

-S. Gonzalez