Ro Armchair with Footstool by Jaime Hayon for Fritz Hansen, Denmark

Born in Madrid, Spain in 1974, artist-designer Jaime Hayon studied industrial design at the Instituto Europeo di Diseño in Madrid, graduating in 1997. The following year, he completed the industrial design program at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (ENSAD) in Paris. After school, he began working as a trainee at the Benetton Group’s Fabrica studio in Treviso, Italy, under the tutelage of Oliviero Toscani. After a year, Hayon was appointed head of the design department, where he oversaw the development of multiple interior and graphic design projects. He established Hayon Studio in 2000 in Madrid. In 2002, he launched a second studio in Treviso; in 2003, he moved the Spanish office to Barcelona; in 2007, he opened a London studio. Today, he operates from three locations: the Valencia space focuses on creative work; Treviso is dedicated to technical design, 3D renderings, and technical development; and the Barcelona office handles communication and press.

Hayon works in the overlap between art, decoration, and contemporary design, creating furniture, products, sculptures, fashion, interiors, and conceptual installations. His clients include Baccarat, Benetton, Adidas, Fritz Hansen, Bisazza, Magis, Fabergé, Established & Sons, Camper, and the Groninger Museum, among others. His work has been exhibited across the globe, including the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein and the Design Museum in London.

Hayon’s list of awards includes the 2006 Elle Deco International Design Award, the 2008 award for Best Designer from Elle Deco Japan, the 2009 Designer of the Year award from AD Russia, and the 2010 Maison & Objet Designer of the Year award. In 2008, he was guest of honor at Belgium’s Biennale Interieur, the youngest person ever to receive the accolade.

Hayon lives in Valencia.

Danish cabinetmaker Fritz Hansen founded his eponymous furniture manufacturing company with his son Christian in Copenhagen in 1885. The first three decades were dedicated to hand-making wood and iron frames for upholstered furniture. In 1915, however, Christian began to introduce industrial processes, such as steam-bending wood, which enabled the family business to mass-produce at a larger scale.

In 1932, Christian brought in his own sons, Fritz and Søren, who updated the product line to include more modernist styles, like Søren’s Thonet-inspired DAN Chair (1930) and a cantilevered wicker and tubular steel chair by architect Mogens Lassen (1933). Other early classics in the Fritz Hansen catalog include Kaare Klint’s Church Chair (1936), Hans Wegner’s China Chair (1944), and Børge Mogensen’s Spoke Back Sofa (1945).

During the 1950s—thanks especially to the contributions of architect Arne Jacobsen—Fritz Hansen entered its golden era, creating some of the most iconic Scandinavian designs of the 20th century. Arne Jacobsen’s Ant Chair (1952), Swan Sofa (1958) and Egg Chair & Ottoman (1958), as well as later designs by Verner Panton, Piet Hein, and Grete Jalk, all helped to cement Fritz Hansen’s legacy as one of the most beloved producers of high quality, simple-yet-elegant, Danish modern furniture.

In 1979, after 107 years of family ownership, Fritz Hansen was bought out by Skandinavisk Holding and is now known as The Republic of Fritz Hansen. Pieces from the company’s long history can be found in nearly every design museum collection there is, from MoMA and Cooper Hewitt in New York to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Arne Jacobsen’s collaboration with Fritz Hansen was the subject of the Siéntate Siéntete exhibition, hosted by the Chamber of Architects in Madrid in 2010.  

* All images courtesy of Republic of Fritz Hansen.