Design

The Dylan Amsterdam Reimagines Quiet LuxuryThrough Heritage and Design text Ulrika Lindqvist In the heart of Amsterdam’s canal district, The Dylan Amsterdam has redefined boutique hospitality with a series of design-led renovations and sustainability upgrades that pay homage to its 17th-century origins. Set along the Keizersgracht, the five-star hotel has completed a multi-phase transformation of 21 out of its 41 rooms and suites, reaffirming its dedication to craftsmanship, timeless design, and conscious innovation. Housed in Amsterdam’s first stone theater, originally designed in 1638 by Jacob van Campen, The Dylan’s architecture remains central to its identity. Guests still enter through the historic gate inscribed with poetry by Joost van den Vondel, stepping into a world where history and modern refinement coexist. The redesign began with the Loft Suites, developed in collaboration with Amsterdam-based Studio Linse and Format Furniture. The result reflects a philosophy of understated elegance and material integrity, with custom oak cabinetry, quartzite surfaces, freestanding Vallone bathtubs, and curated vintage pieces. In 2024, the Serendipity building followed suit with interiors by Studio Linse that blend ornamental details, warmer tones, and soft textures. Every piece was crafted to measure, embodying a quiet sophistication rooted in timelessness. Images courtesy of The Dylan Amsterdam Already Green Globe Certified, The Dylan continues to advance its sustainability practices. Upgrades include high-performance insulation glass, interior façade improvements, and a heat recovery ventilation system designed to optimize energy use. A seasonal thermal energy storage system is also in progress, ensuring sustainable temperature control throughout the year. Beyond its guest rooms, The Dylan has refined its shared spaces, unveiling a refreshed lounge in 2023, a six-seat chef’s table concept (até), and renovated meeting rooms reflecting the property’s architectural heritage. The hotel’s event venues, including the Ariana, Atrium, Regents, and Barbou rooms, offer a serene setting framed by a secluded inner garden, ideal for private gatherings and weddings. A new gym featuring Technogym equipment will open in spring 2026. With its ongoing evolution, The Dylan Amsterdam continues to set the benchmark for quiet luxury, where heritage, design, and sustainability intertwine to create an experience of enduring beauty and purpose.

Teklan x Layered: A Continued Exploration of Color and Form text Ulrika Lindqvist photography Andy Liffner Known for her bold use of color and immersive spatial design, Stockholm-based designer Tekla Evelina Severin, or Teklan, has built a practice that bridges interiors, architecture, and visual storytelling. In this interview, she shares her creative process, recent highlights, and the inspiration behind her latest collaboration with Layered. Ulrika Lindqvist: Hi Tekla, can you share how long you’ve been working as an interior designer and what inspired you to start your career in this field? Tekla Evelina Severin: I graduated in 2010 from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, specializing in Interior Architecture and Furniture Design, and have been working in the field ever since. During the first few years, I worked as a more traditional interior architect at an architectural firm. 2015 I took my first baby steps towards my current direction, and founded my own studio and multidisciplinary practice, working through the language of colour. My inspiration to start my own practice came from a longing for something beyond the prevailing conformity in design and CMF-design at that time.  (And my initial inspiration for becoming a spatial designer in the first place, came from a desire to create new immersive experiences and meaningful environments that stand the test of time, as all good designs should.) UL: Have there been any particular projects or events in your career that stand out as especially memorable? TES: Yes, many , and every project have its own magic, but creating ”an apartment of one’s own” for Spanish furniture company sancal during Milan design week 2022 was definitively a highlight in every way.  The wholehearted creative trust from the magic sisters behind the family company, the generous support of co-collaborators like Huguet Mallorca who brought my wild, customised design ideas to life, the patient care of builders and visionary project leaders, the spatial unfolding of my creative vision – and, finally, the overwhelming response from both visitors and press.  Another unexpected highlight is the ongoing journey of my tile collection Färgblock. What began as a simple design has evolved over the years, expanding with new finishes and formats and finding its way into projects around the world. Each day I encounter it in new contexts, and it’s delightful to witness how seamlessly it inhabits so many different styles UL: Can you walk us through your creative process? Do you have any specific routines or practices that help spark your creativity? TES: I have no problem with finding inspiration, I have rather the opposite problem, to find enough time to fulfill all my ideas. My creative process is quite straightforward, unfolding in several clear stages. It begins with an in-depth analysis of the client, the brief, the premises, and the space itself. From there, I move on to shaping an atmosphere—creating mood boards, researching materials, and developing colour schemes. In the next phase, I translate these ideas into concrete form through 3D sketches and presentations. This is followed by technical drawings for manufacturers and builders, enabling both budgeting and, ultimately, production. Once production begins, I focus on styling research, followed by on-site supervision and personal involvement to ensure that every detail is realised as intended UL: What does a typical day look like for you as an interior designer? TES: There is no such thing as a typical day. Also, since most of my  clients are international, I often work abroad. My time is divided between developing or refining new CMF designs, moving through different stages of interior and exhibition projects, directing or styling upcoming collaborations, and—like now—giving interviews, talks, and behind-the-scenes insights ahead of various launches UL: How do you use rugs and carpets in your interior design? TES: Often, it’s a rug or carpet that allows the room to truly “land.” Beyond anchoring the space, it also adds a softness to the atmosphere and dynamic through material and texture, while naturally improving the acoustics UL: This is you second collaboration with Layered, how does it feel to return? TES: I wouldn’t really call it a return, since our last collaboration was quite recent and the collection is still available and doing well. That said, it’s always a pleasure to be ‘back’ and to continue building on what we’ve created together. In one sense, the process feels easier now that we know each other so well. But in another, it is more demanding—to move forward, to push boundaries, and to somehow outshine the collection that came before. UL: How did you choose the location for the campaign shoot, Villa Volman in Prague?  TES: For many reasons, the architecture offered a wonderful palette of matching colours, clean geometrical shapes, and strong perspectives, all of which harmonised beautifully with their collection. There is also something about the spirit of modernism—it feels timeless, while at the same time resonating with my own nostalgic fondness, I often refer to this phenomena as ”newstalgia” UL: What was your inspiration for this collection? It starts where your first collaboration “prism collection” ended, but where did you find the inspiration for this one? TES. Both the collections carry the same creative vision present in all my work: a fascination with the meeting point between two and three dimensions, where perspective shifts and optical illusions emerge—clearly reflected in both Diagonal and Labyrinth DiagonalDiagonal is an homage to one of my dearest patterns: the stripe. Here, reinterpreted diagonally with a darker contour line, it creates an optical shadow effect that emphasizes direction and adds an extra “bam” to the expression. The blue and brown/burgundy pairing is one of my signature combinations—what I like to call “something flirty and something dirty”—a balance where lightness meets depth and earthiness. For the second colourway, I wanted a more graphic and stylistic feel, but with warmth, so I added ochre brown to create richness and comfort. LabyrinthLabyrinth reflects one of my most beloved spatial layouts; in fact, I often build my room installations as labyrinths of different sequences. Here, it appears

The real thing with Tianyi Sun text Thea Voyles Tianyi Sun in her studio Human memory is an elastic thing. An expanding bag of tricks, the contents jumbled and lint-coated, altered with every blind fumble inside. Our memories come out slightly different each time, false relics perhaps, but still sacred. Computer memory, on the other hand, is a commodity, a static series of ones and zeroes, a brittle shard of data. We trust it more fully than our own, elevating its contents—sharp, clean, and barely pixelated—to fact. But what about the data that gets lost? That slips through the cracks of an ordered system?   Tianyi Sun doesn’t trust her computer memory. Or rather, she wants to see what data might be hidden between a chart’s gleaming headings. As one of two artist residents in Cornell Tech’s prestigious Backslash program—‘funding artists whose practices are nonlinear, unconventional, unexpected, adventurous, intense, surprising, questionable, and primed for engagement with new technologies’—Sun is on this hunt from within. Backslash’s program manager explained that they seek candidates leading in their field who “escape the norm.” Sun was chosen for her “deep engagement with the tech, not just as a means to an end but to understand the processes behind parsing the data.” Tianyi Sun. BADWIZARD, 2020 – ongoing. Interactive browser-based application / Multi-Channel Video TV: Your work is very tactile, it engages with the senses—not just sound and language, but heat and smell–which is unexpected when dealing with digital technology.  TS: There’s an illusion that digital technology is distant from the human or the body. But our responses to  what we experience through technology—synthesis, copies, mediation—are bodily, visceral. I’m interested in the affect that ‘technology’ facilitates, the way that we still react to something, ‘real’ or not.  TV: We are obsessed with differentiating between the synthesized version, or a copy, and the real thing. In the art world especially, we give an artwork value because it is a great example of, or the pinnacle of an artist’s work. In a way, data and AI make that kind of singular thinking impossible. In a society that’s built around the idea of something definitive, we now have all this technology that is continuously generating copies.  TS:  I was thinking a lot about this idea of authenticity as being algorithmic. If you think about how you verify an artwork’s authenticity, you pretty much measure it against a set of norms: if the time of creation, or the material, or the gesture matches, it is authentic, “real”. Yet how do you create and come to these gauges, these systems of measurement? Sometimes our gauge of what is most real or authentic is often our first interaction with it, but what happens when that is an interaction mediated by or replicated through technology? I grew up in the UK, and my experience with, as an example, orange chicken, is both authentic and inauthentic. It isn’t part of a historical cultural heritage, yet this “Chinese food” feels very nostalgic to me, as I ate it growing up, and my emotional connection is real. Nothing is ‘authentic’ anymore—no one true thing, which is why our emotional responses to technology are important. TV: Emotion is always sort-of deemed to be authentic, so when we have emotional connections to things, they become endowed with authenticity. If we perceive someone as authentic, they’re being genuine. We trust them. Or you know, an authentic restaurant is not catering to a tourist audience; it’s about not being tricked. Nostalgia is authentic, but memories are tricky. How are you exploring memory at Cornell Tech? TS: I am working on a continuation of a project I started in 2020, BADWIZARD. The name comes from the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy finds out that the wizard was fake and calls him a bad man, he responds, ‘I’m a good man, but I’m a bad wizard,’ because he failed to fool her. That’s pretty much what computers are, or what technology is, or even, I would say, what memory is. We think we have certain points in our lives that we really capture, but when reconstructing the memory, you are really making a lot of things up. You conjure the most coherent version, based on the context, or the time, or your emotions.  The pandemic hit Asia much earlier than it did the US. When it hit the US, I felt like my present folded back on itself. I had the same conversations—going through the same fear and anxiety, seeing the same images in the media—with a new group of people that I had with family and friends in China a year earlier. In BADWIZARD, I collected a lot of data—chat logs from friends, diaries, images—and condensed all of these ‘data-points’ into an interactive browser-based narrative where you’re able to navigate through short little vignettes. Some of the events are real, some of them are fake, or could feel real, but might not have actually happened.  Data is often used as an illusion of reality—something that’s real, something that happened. It’s seen as static, true, perfect. But when you think about what data is, it doesn’t mirror reality—it mirrors our ways of describing, valuing, and interpreting reality.  It is not fact, more rhetoric, narrative, performance even. Tianyi Sun. BADWIZARD, 2020 – ongoing. Interactive browser-based application / Multi-Channel Video. TV: Cool. How is the project evolving?  TS: I am taking the project further at Cornell Tech. I shifted from approaching the subject matter from a very personal point of time [angle] to investigate how similar data and narrative really are. AI takes information from all of the data points and then regurgitates it back to you and we are very reliant on these processes, it’s seen as almost this hand of truth. At the same time, users are more aware that much of our experiences are mediated through data; before ChatGPT or AI became so accessible, there was less of an awareness or curiosity on how and where data comes to be. TV:

Mizetto Launches Modular Sofa Cargo in Sweden text Elsa Chagot With roots in Småland and a string of design awards, Swedish brand Mizetto is now launching its  modular sofa, Cargo, designed by the Kalmar-based studio ADDI. Following acclaimed debuts at NeoCon in Chicago and New York Design Week, Cargo was introduced to the Swedish market on September 9, 2025. Founded in 2004 by Malin and Richard Muskala, Mizetto has grown from a small storage-solutions company in Småland to an internationally recognized design brand with showrooms in Stockholm, Hamburg, and Chicago, as well as collaborations with global fashion houses including Gucci, Chanel, and Jacquemus. Cargo represents a bold step into the sofa segment. Inspired by the cube, its modular design allows endless layouts, from large open spaces to narrow passages. The backrest doubles as an interactive architectural element, while attachable tray tables add flexibility, turning Cargo into a workstation, meeting hub, or relaxation spot. The design of Cargo also emphasizes sustainability. Mizetto’s mostly local production in Kalmar, close relationships with nearby suppliers, and short transport chains ensure better quality and promotes sustainability. Fabrics are removable and replaceable and all components are designed for repair, reuse, or recycling, which ensures longevity as well as aesthetic durability.

Johan Lindeberg on Crafting Legacy: From Glass Chess Sets to Desert Country Clubs text Natalia Muntean Swedish designer Johan Lindeberg and the brand spearheaded by his daughter, Blue Lindeberg, Jay3lle, join forces with Orrefors to create an exclusive handcrafted glass chess set. Made by Orrefors master glassblowers, each piece reflects meticulous Scandinavian craftsmanship and artistic influences from Ingmar Bergman’s symbolic cinema and John Selbing’s evocative photography. This collaboration transforms a classic game into a striking art object, embodying the creative spirit of JAY3LLE and celebrating the legacy of Swedish glassmaking, transforming a classic game into a striking centrepiece that reflects the brand’s visionary blend of tradition and innovation. Natalia Muntean: Could you talk a little bit about your collaboration with Orrefors – what drew you to collaborate with them, and how the idea of a glass chess set came about?Johan Lindeberg: I’ve always been collecting glass, buying old vintage pieces and so on. I’ve been very fascinated by Orrefors specifically and by Swedish glass development in general – Scandinavian design. So I contacted them and said, why don’t we do something together? With this new brand I’m creating, I want to do a lot of collaborations, especially unexpected ones.We sat down and talked. They were looking for ways to reposition Orrefors, to make it more modern again. I said, I think it’s amazing, let me help you, let’s do something together. Then I sat down with my team at my barn outside Båstad and said, let’s do a chess game in glass. I presented the idea, and Orrefors loved it. They became very passionate about it.There’s also an interesting story behind it. My father was one of the best bridge players in Sweden. He was captain of the national team and wrote books on bridge. I was very anti-games when I was younger because I had to sit and watch all these bridge players. But with chess, I’ve always been fascinated by the strategic tactics; it’s a bit like building a brand, to be honest. I was in New York and asked this guy in Washington Square Park to teach me. I paid him and took lessons there, with the guys sitting around playing chess. That’s how it started.The new brand I’m doing is also about creating a kind of country club environment. That’s been my dream since I started J. Lindeberg, and now more than ever. So for me, the chess game is a natural hub – a creative meeting point for that kind of world. NM: So it’s sort of like a transition into your next endeavour, so to speak?JL: Yes, it’s a transition. That’s why I’m here in Italy; we’re working on it. We’ve done soft launches: a collaboration in golf, and now the chess game. But we haven’t launched the brand properly yet. That’s planned for October. NM: Congratulations on releasing your biography! How does that feel to have that out?JL: It’s amazing. I’ve gotten great feedback. I think it became the number-one book in Sweden. It’s very emotional, very honest, about my career, all the twists and turns in my life, the spiritual search, relationships, brand building… my journey in life. It’s as honest as it gets. NM: Was it scary to put yourself out there in a more vulnerable way and reveal more of yourself?JL: I think people in Sweden know I’ve always been quite open, honest, vulnerable – sharing what I feel. But yeah, I really let the reader enter my world. The title is What I See When I Close My Eyes, so yeah, it’s really honest. It was very emotional to write. I struggled with doing the audiobook because I had to read it again, and I was supposed to do it myself. It’s very emotional. NM: How did you decide to write a biography?JL: My daughter, during COVID, said to me, Why don’t you share your story? I was also tired of explaining all the time about J. Lindeberg and everything else. I thought, okay, I’ll write it all down so people can see what’s been driving me, what I’ve been fighting for: my values, my ideas. Also, the struggles I’ve had trying to get investors to understand my vision. I thought it would be better to explain everything so it comes from me, instead of everyone interpreting or guessing. There have been a lot of ideas out there – who I am, why I’m not with J. Lindeberg anymore, why this, why that. It felt really good to explain it from my perspective. NM: And have you gotten any feedback from readers who’ve said things like, “I finally understood,” or “I saw a different side of you,” or “I changed my opinion about you”?JL: Yes. In particular, some people who’ve worked for me read it immediately. They said they were crying and laughing, that they couldn’t stop reading, and they admired how I’ve been fighting for what I believe in.I think it’s also a book people will go back to and read again. There’s a lot you can learn from it, regardless of age. I had the guts to take steps that followed my heart. It’s quite a special story. NM: That sounds wonderful. But if we can go back a little to the chess set. I read that it’s inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and John Selbing’s photography. Could you tell me a little more about how those influences shaped the design process?JL: I mean, from an Orrefors’ perspective, definitely The Seventh Seal. That film was shot very close to my barn in Hovshallar. I’ve always been very intrigued by that scene, of playing chess with Death.John Selbing is someone I discovered when I went through the Orrefors archive. He had been shooting photography, and Orrefors really liked my photography and could see similarities between mine and his. So we started discussing that a lot.But the chess game itself has a very strong Middle Eastern inspiration, from vintage Middle Eastern chess games. In this new brand, I’m including the Middle East. I’ve always been very

Louis Vuitton Home Collections – A New Chapter in the Art of Living text Ulrika Lindqvist Louis Vuitton expands its universe of luxury and innovation with the launch of Louis Vuitton Home Collections—a bold new venture into the realm of interior design and lifestyle. Marking a significant evolution in the house’s longstanding dialogue with the design world, the new collections introduce an immersive vision of l’art de vivre—the art of living. From its origins crafting iconic travel trunks, Louis Vuitton has always stood at the intersection of utility and art. In 2012, the maison deepened its engagement with contemporary design through Objets Nomades, a limited-edition series of inventive home pieces created in collaboration with celebrated designers such as India Mahdavi, Patricia Urquiola, and Estúdio Campana. Now, that legacy is expanding into a full-scale home universe. For the first time, Louis Vuitton presents a complete range of furniture and decorative objects under one roof. The debut includes a refined selection of Objets Nomades, the inaugural Signature Collection of furniture and lighting, Decorations—a line of bold textiles and artistic accents—Art of Dining featuring exquisite tableware, and a series of luxurious game sets. The entire collection embodies the maison’s unmistakable aesthetic, meticulous craftsmanship, and pursuit of innovation. Designed by talents like Patrick Jouin and Cristián Mohaded, the Signature Collection blends contemporary elegance with Louis Vuitton’s iconic visual language. From modular sofas and sculptural chairs to statement lighting, each piece fuses form and function with timeless materials such as wood, leather, and plush textiles. The Decorations line explores a vibrant world of color, pattern, and texture. Ceramic pieces, including a striking vase by Patricia Urquiola, reference her earlier work for Objets Nomades and echo her signature laser-cut detailing. Complemented by soft accessories like wool and cashmere throws and decorative cushions, the collection transforms interiors into expressive, tactile spaces. Louis Vuitton’s iconic monogram and floral motifs reappear in the Art of Dining collection, where each tableware line tells its own story. The sleek, monochrome porcelain series by Japanese designer Nendo contrasts beautifully with the sunny, Mediterranean-inspired Capri collection—bringing elegance and personality to every table setting. The spirit of collectible design lives on through new additions to Objets Nomades. Estúdio Campana presents two sculptural pieces, Boitata and Uirapuru, expanding on their acclaimed Cocoon Couture series. Their newly introduced Kaleidoscope Cabinet is offered in eight unique colorways, each crafted as a one-of-a-kind statement. Meanwhile, the new Totem Vinyle by Studio LV adds a graphic, architectural presence to this year’s offerings. The Louis Vuitton Home Collections will roll out in phases beginning June 2025 and will be available in selected Louis Vuitton stores worldwide, each with dedicated home sections, as well as online at louisvuitton.com. With this launch, Louis Vuitton continues to redefine the boundaries between fashion, art, and everyday living—inviting us all to inhabit spaces shaped by creativity, heritage, and style.

Lorenza Luti on Kartell’s legacy of continuous Innovation text Natalia Muntean For Kartell, innovation isn’t just a strategy, it’s genetic. As the granddaughter of the brand’s founder, Lorenza Luti, Marketing and Retail Director at Kartell, has spent a lifetime watching plastic transcend its industrial roots to become sculptural, sustainable, and even visual poetry. Today, she steers the iconic Italian design house into the future, with every piece produced by Kartell telling a story. In this interview, Luti reveals how Kartell balances heritage with disruption, why sustainability demands ‘revolutionary materials, not just green gestures,’ and how a family business thrives when it treats design as ‘a spark, not a formula.’ Natalia Muntean: How do you see Kartell evolving over the next decade, and what role do you envision yourself playing in that evolution?Lorenza Luti: Our creativity and purpose of always innovating will not stop in the future. Kartell has always worked, above all, in the logic of innovation, carrying on simultaneously creativity with impossible challenges never realised before. We will continue strengthening the brand through the expansion and diversification of the sales network with a very specific global retail policy that guarantees strong brand recognition. Today, as in the future, Kartell aims to be not just a furniture product but a real lifestyle brand. This is the path that was traced first by my grandfather, followed by my father up to now, and certainly, my brother Federico and I will continue on this path, carrying forward this legacy. NM: How do you honour Kartell’s legacy while pushing for innovation? What challenges have you faced as a leader in a family-owned business, and who has inspired your leadership style?LL: Being part of a family business like Kartell is wonderful, even if it requires a lot of commitment because the private and professional spheres inevitably overlap. But it is rewarding to be part of a great story, one that has been going on since the generation of my grandparents and continues today with mine and my brother’s commitment, alongside my father. Since I was a child, Kartell has been part of my life. I carry within me the passion and commitment that I have seen in my father when he follows the birth of every single project and finds the right idea to transform a creative intuition into a market success. Nohing stimulates me and gives me more satisfaction than attending meetings between him and the designers. It is a back and forth of ideas, a continuous exchange of working hypotheses and new discoveries, always going further. NM: What has been the most rewarding aspect of your career at Kartell so far, and what lessons have you learned along the way?LL: There is no design without emotion and this has been our inspiration. A design piece must tell a story, going beyond the product itself. I firmly believe that this is the direction in which we need to go: to excite by creating not a series of objects but a transversal and versatile lifestyle. A complete proposal that knows how to arouse something, in which the products enter into dialogue with each other and in relation to the living spaces, creating personal solutions. It is the vision of design that is always on the move, in which a style becomes strong and recognisable precisely because it can highlight the living room, the different contexts and cultures with which it is mixed. NM: Can you elaborate on some of the key initiatives Kartell has undertaken to become more sustainable? How do you balance the need for innovative design with the increasing demand for sustainable products?LL: Our commitment to sustainability and environmental protection has always been a priority at Kartell. The passion for excellence, that has guided Kartell’s development since its origins, has led us to focus on environmental responsibility and attention to good sustainability practices. For us, each item we create is a timeless product, developed with respect for the environment and designed to occupy museum spaces and collectors’ assets at the end of its function. Kartell’s commitment to implementing and increasingly improving the environmental management system is guaranteed by adherence to International certification protocols. that characterise Kartell. It is a dynamic and enriching process, which inspires and motivates me every day. NM: What do you think will be the most significant shifts in consumer behaviour over the next few years, and how is Kartell preparing for them?LL: Our strategy is based on online and offline multi-channel. Today, in its expansion process, stores are becoming increasingly larger, so we had to rethink our spaces both to create a story capable of making our bestsellers communicate with the latest product news but also to convey Kartell’s renewed ability to offer total living proposals in which sofas are set with armchairs, rugs, side tables and lights as well as tables and chairs, thanks to the expansion of the range and the inclusion of products and product families that allow us to represent an overall vision and also satisfy a very broad market demand. This, without forgetting our vertical display, which is becoming even more elegant. E-commerce is the other Kartell distribution channel, together with Retail, which for us remains our core business. In 2014, we were the first in the furniture sector to open a direct e-commerce that we have continued to develop and enrich, becoming a real relationship platform with our customers. The site is not only a commercial digital showcase but is a global platform for corporate storytelling. Furthermore, we are increasingly working towards harmonising the showcase campaign, which is now the same for both the digital and traditional retail parts. This is immediately visible starting from the home page, where there are not only showcase launches but also editorial or cultural content that give a well-rounded vision of our brand. NM: What emerging trends in the furniture and design industry are you most excited about, and how is Kartell positioning itself to capitalise on these trends?LL: Our philosophy is to create emotion through our products to achieve what we call the Kartell lifestyle or the

Interview with Filippa Burenstam Linder, Creative Director Mateus text Yasmine Mubarak Filippa Burenstam Linder is the creative director of the porcelain company Mateus, a 30 years old brand with inspiration from Swedish design and Portuguese craftsmanship. Together with her mother Teresa Mateus Lundahl (who founded the company), they are a driving force in the porcelain industry. They are dedicated in creating colorful tables around the world, with a strong inspiration taken from the fashion world, but also love for family gatherings. Odalisque had a quick talk with the Creative Director, to ask a few questions for the spring and summer festivities. Tell me about your inspiration and love for Mateus.Mateus is truly part of my DNA. My mother founded the company when I was just seven years old, so it’s deeply woven into my childhood. I have so many memories of accompanying her to the factories and helping pack orders in our basement, which at the time served as our warehouse. When I was nine, I gave her a drawing of a plate for her birthday. She loved the idea and decided to produce it, with a few tweaks, of course. That became my very first design for Mateus. What are your inspirations for the brand, currently and for the future?What inspires me most is our customers. I feel incredibly proud when I meet someone who’s been collecting Mateus for years, adding new pieces over time – or when someone inherits pieces and wants to continue building their own collection. That kind of loyalty and connection to the brand is both humbling and motivating. How did your own passion for design start?I think I was born into it! Design has always been a part of my life. Even as a child, I was constantly rearranging my room – probably every other week. I’ve always had a love for aesthetics and how they shape our surroundings. Written by Yasmine Mubarak Filippa Burenstam Linder is the creative director of the porcelain company Mateus, a 30 years old brand with inspiration from Swedish design and Portuguese craftsmanship. Together with her mother Teresa Mateus Lundahl (who founded the company), they are a driving force in the porcelain industry. They are dedicated in creating colorful tables around the world, with a strong inspiration taken from the fashion world, but also love for family gatherings. Odalisque had a quick talk with the Creative Director, to ask a few questions for the spring and summer festivities. Tell me about your inspiration and love for Mateus.Mateus is truly part of my DNA. My mother founded the company when I was just seven years old, so it’s deeply woven into my childhood. I have so many memories of accompanying her to the factories and helping pack orders in our basement, which at the time served as our warehouse. When I was nine, I gave her a drawing of a plate for her birthday. She loved the idea and decided to produce it, with a few tweaks, of course. That became my very first design for Mateus. What are your inspirations for the brand, currently and for the future?What inspires me most is our customers. I feel incredibly proud when I meet someone who’s been collecting Mateus for years, adding new pieces over time – or when someone inherits pieces and wants to continue building their own collection. That kind of loyalty and connection to the brand is both humbling and motivating. How did your own passion for design start?I think I was born into it! Design has always been a part of my life. Even as a child, I was constantly rearranging my room – probably every other week. I’ve always had a love for aesthetics and how they shape our surroundings. The Mateus brand is introduced as Swedish Design meets Portuguese craftsmanship, tell me a bit more about that merge. My mother was born and raised in Lisbon and moved to Sweden when she met my father, so Portugal has always been close to our hearts. The country has a rich heritage in ceramics, and from the start, it made perfect sense to bring together Portuguese craftsmanship with the simplicity and elegance of Swedish design. That combination defines Mateus. What are your hopes for people buying Mateus items?That they’ll love and cherish them for many years. Our collection is extensive, we have around 700 unique items, and we rarely discontinue products. That means customers can start a collection and continue to build on it over time, knowing they can always find complementary pieces. What do spring/summer 2025 look like for you personally?Fashion-wise, I’m a denim girl – I love a good Canadian tuxedo. When it comes to table settings, I’m all about color. I prefer bold tones like blue, red, and yellow over pastels. For me, vibrant colors really bring a table to life. Last question, tell me about your latest collaboration with Sam Baron. How did it start, how did you found each other? We first met in 2017, when we invited Sam and Costas to design a collection for our 25th anniversary. Since then, we have stayed in touch, thanks in part to Sam’s residency in Portugal and our encounters at international design fairs. Coincidentally, my mother and Sam also goes to the same tea shop in Lisbon! When we decided to incorporate patterns in a modern and intriguing way, Sam was the natural choice. Read Odalisque’s interview with Sam Baron here.

Nude Ateljé is crafting stories through space text Natalia Muntean Eva-Lotta Axelsson, founder of Nude Ateljé, describes her brand as a storyteller of spatial experiences, where architecture and life intertwine. “Rooms are performances,” she explains, “with layers that magnify over time, inviting subtle mannerisms and inhabitation.” Drawing inspiration from the uncultivated beauty of Alvaret’s limestone landscapes and the wild creativity of old fashion houses, where production, studio, and shop coexisted, Axelsson infuses her designs with a sense of timeless exploration. This philosophy is embodied in the NOTKATEsideboard, a sculptural piece born from a collaboration with a Stockholm boutique hotel. What began as a humble sketch on a plane evolved into a bold, functional design that balances elegance with playfulness. Crafted from materials like birch, concrete, and corten steel, the sideboard reflects Nude Ateljé’s commitment to blending aesthetics and functionality. “The result is a piece with enough confidence to fill a room by itself,” Axelsson says, “yet with the grace to team up alongside any other furniture.” Rooted in traditional craftsmanship and inspired by the interplay of space and life, the NOTKATEsideboard is a testament to Nude Ateljé’s vision of creating enduring, lived-in narratives. Natalia Muntean: The sideboard was born from a collaboration with a boutique hotel. Can you share more about how collaborations influence your design process and the unique challenges or opportunities they present? Eva-Lotta Axelsson: We listen. A lot, and often. The customer is central to everything we do; we usually say that we interpret the assignment based on location, function, and client. Testimony to these values is our projects with boutique hotels and the one with Dennis Pop Awards, for which we created one of our lamps, Chimes of Light. The lamp was originally created for the auction at the 2017 Denniz Pop Awards. This lamp is our tribute to a talented and inspiring late music producer. We aim for this piece to embody the same warmth and brilliance he represented, honouring his legacy. It features thirty hand-turned walnut pendulums, each adjustable in height, dimmable, and emitting a warm glow. With these kinds of projects, my intention is to broaden the idea of creation, to inspire but also to be inspired. Then sustainability and quality are equally important, both in terms of materials and people. The process begins with meeting the person for whom the room is for. I love observing them from every angle, carefully absorbing their world. Then I ask them a series of questions: what do you want to do in the room? How do you want it to feel when you leave it? When I have explored all this, I create a mood board, a one-pager, which we agree on as the strategy ahead, and then the drawing begins. Observing spatial culture and creating tailored spaces go hand in hand with Nude Ateljé’s anthropological pursuit, an investigation that gets translated into a collection of products. There is a fascinating process to unpack, maybe strategically framed as a day in the life of observations and qualitative questions. NM: The sideboard features materials like birch, concrete, travertine, corten steel, and hardened glass. What inspired this specific combination of materials, and how do they complement each other in terms of aesthetics and functionality? ELA: The common theme in our material expressions is elegance, eclecticism, and boldness, often accompanied by a degree of dissonance and friction. This creates a sense of tension and contrast. The products we design are objects where aesthetics and functionality are given equal consideration. NM: Given that the NOTKATE sideboard is handmade, what role does traditional craftsmanship play in its creation, and how do you ensure consistency and quality across each piece? ELA: The NOTKATE sideboard is a testament to the art of traditional craftsmanship. Each piece is carefully handcrafted by our small team of skilled artisans, who have years of experience working with solid wood. We value classic woodworking techniques, ensuring that every detail, from sturdy joints to a smooth finish, reflects our commitment to quality. At the same time, we’ve refinedour process to keep each sideboard consistent while preserving the wood’s natural look and character. We follow clear design guidelines and use specialised tools to ensure precision, but we never hide the wood’s unique grain patterns that make every piece one of a kind. Before leaving our workshop, each sideboard is carefully inspected to make sure it meets our high standards. The result is a piece that highlights the warmth and beauty of natural wood, crafted to last for years to come. NM: Nude Ateljé is known for experimenting with innovative materials. How do you decide which materials to work with, and what role do sustainability and durability play in these choices? ELA: Nude Ateljé has a distinct eye for creating life, discovering specific approaches through an anthropological process that starts with collecting materials. The work results in translations between inside and outside and the spaces in between rooms. For us, sustainability and durability are centred around longevity, using materials that outlast us, and improve over time with a natural patina and can be repaired or repurposed. For example, wood can be sanded and refinished multiple times. For NOTKATE we buy whole trees that we dry in the carpentry, from where we form the construction, the base and top of the object. Our room scent ‘Forest Temple’ is created with leftover wood from the production of the sideboard. NM: Are there any upcoming projects, materials, or design concepts that you’re particularly excited about? ELA: There are a lot of interesting things happening right now, and we are working on both residential and commercial projects, developing the architecture part, our furniture collections and the carpentry at the same time. We might even explore working with other materials and mediums going forward. We are particularly excited about “Grundvik,” a concrete house where we have worked on both the architecture and interior design. This house will showcase Nude Ateljés’ entire universe, encompassing architecture, interiors, and curated objects. It will serve as a “moment of truth” – a

A Decade of Design: Malin Glemme on Layered’s 10-Year Journey and the Future of Interior Aesthetics text Ulrika Lindqvist As Layered celebrates its 10-year anniversary, we sit down with founder and CEO Malin Glemme to reflect on a decade of design, creativity, and innovation. From an unexpected beginning—creating a rug for her own home—to building an internationally recognized brand, Malin shares her journey, the inspirations behind her work, and what’s next for Layered. Ulrika Lindqvist: Hi Malin, congratulations on celebrating 10 years with Layered! Malin Glemme: Thank you so much! It’s been an incredible journey, and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved. UL: Could you share how long you’ve been working in the interior design industry and what initially inspired you to pursue a career in this field? MG: I’ve been working in the design industry for over a decade now. My journey began with a deep passion for creating beautiful spaces that evoke emotion and feel personal. In 2014, I was decorating my new 200-square-meter home on a limited budget. Having a background in product development, I decided to design my own rug. I found an amazing supplier in India who helped bring my idea to life, and the rug ended up being featured in Sköna Hem. Readers started reaching out, asking where they could purchase it, and that’s when I realized there was real interest in this kind of design. That moment inspired me to launch LAYERED with a vision of offering rugs that combine innovative and sustainable design. UL: What motivated you to establish Layered a decade ago? MG: The experience of creating that first rug and seeing people’s excitement about it made me realize there was a gap in the market. At the time, rugs were often treated as neutral backdrops rather than statement pieces. I wanted to change that by introducing designs that felt bold, stylish, and high-quality while being crafted sustainably. Layered was born out of a desire to elevate rugs to something that could truly anchor a room and tell a story. UL: Over the past 10 years, have there been any standout projects or events that hold a special place in your journey? MG: There are so many memorable moments! Collaborating with inspiring designers and launching collections that push creative boundaries has been incredibly rewarding. One standout memory is when we launched internationally—it was a pivotal moment that showed how far we’d come. Every production trip has also been memorable and inspiring. Meeting our suppliers, many of whom run family-owned businesses, and seeing their craftsmanship up close is always fascinating and invaluable. But honestly, some of the most meaningful moments come from customers who share how our products have transformed their homes. That connection to real people and their stories is what makes it all worthwhile. UL: We’d love to hear more about your jubilee collection—what inspired its creation, and what makes it unique? MG: The Ten Years Unfolded collection is a celebration of our journey. We revisited our archives and reimagined three of the very first designs we ever launched. These were pieces that helped define our signature style in Layered’s early days. While the patterns still felt relevant, we updated the color combinations to give them a fresh, contemporary look that fits today’s aesthetic. The collection is special because it represents where we started and how far we’ve come, blending heritage with innovation. UL: What is your most cherished piece of interior design in your own home, and why? MG: That’s such a difficult question, but I’d have to say my old wooden table from the 1800s. It has a very simple design with a beautiful patina and has been with me through every home over the past 20 years. I’ve even promised my children that it will always be a part of our homes—it’s become a symbol of comfort and continuity for us all.  UL: Can you take us through a typical workday in your life? MG: No two days are ever the same! I usually start my mornings with some quiet time to gather my thoughts—either a quick walk or a cup of coffee at home. A large part of my day revolves around my role as CEO, ensuring that Layered is not just creatively inspiring but also a healthy, thriving company. This means everything from reviewing budgets and planning long-term strategies to connecting with my team and fostering a strong company culture. I also make time for creative meetings, working on new designs, and planning collaborations. And, of course, balancing work with family life is incredibly important to me. UL: You’ve also launched another company, PICK A POPPY. How do you manage the demands of running two businesses simultaneously? MG: It’s definitely a challenge, but I’m passionate about both brands and their unique stories. I’ve learned to focus on what I do best and surround myself with amazing teams who share the same vision. Time management is key, as is trusting the people I work with. PICK A POPPY allows me to explore a more playful side of design, which complements my work with Layered beautifully. UL: Looking to the future, what’s next for you? Are there any specific projects, goals, or aspirations you’re especially excited about? MG: I’m excited to continue pushing creative boundaries with both Layered and PICK A POPPY. For Layered, we’re focusing heavily on expanding in the U.S., where we’re seeing significant growth. In 2024, we’ll also be participating in several major global design weeks and fairs, including New York Design Festival, 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen, and Paris Design Week. These events are incredible opportunities to connect with international audiences and showcase our vision on a larger stage. Alongside that, we’re exploring ways to make our products even more sustainable and timeless, with exciting design collaborations in the works. Personally, I’d love to dive deeper into storytelling through design—whether it’s through new collections, partnerships, or finding fresh ways to inspire people in their homes.