Carl Hansen & Søn is a Danish family company for designer furniture in solid wood, founded on 28 October 1908 by master cabinetmaker Carl Hansen in Odense (island of Funen, Denmark). The first factory opened in 1915, initially specialising in bedroom furniture for the bourgeoisie and landed gentry of the island of Funen. During the economically difficult 1930s, Holger Hansen, the founder's second-oldest son, assumed leadership; a contract with Singer (wooden sewing-machine cases) secured the company's survival through the crisis. After the Second World War, Holger Hansen's sales manager Ejvind Kold Christensen encountered the young designers of the Danish furniture movement. In 1949 he arranged the decisive meeting between Hans J. Wegner and Holger Hansen — the foundation for a collaboration from which, in 1950, four chairs went into series production, including the CH24 (Wishbone). In 1988 Jørgen Gerner Hansen took over management, in 2002 Knud Erik Hansen (grandson of the founder). In 2001 Carl Hansen & Søn acquired Tranekær Furniture, in 2011 the renowned Copenhagen atelier Rud. Rasmussen. Today Carl Hansen & Søn is present in more than 40 countries and operates 22 flagship stores globally (including Copenhagen, New York, Tokyo, London, Osaka). Production: Gelsted (island of Funen, Denmark) — entirely in Denmark. All timber comes from responsible forestry.
Iconic product portfolio: CH24 Wishbone Chair (Hans J. Wegner, 1950 — in uninterrupted production since 1950; over 100 production steps, the great majority by hand; Y-back in hand-woven cord as brand signature); CH22, CH23, CH25 (Wegner, "First Masterpieces" 1949/50); FH419 Heritage Chair and FH429 Signature Chair (Frits Henningsen, from 1939); Safari Chair (Kaare Klint). Further historical design partners: Arne Jacobsen, Børge Mogensen, Ole Wanscher, Mogens Koch, Nanna Ditzel, Poul Kjærholm, Bodil Kjær, Vilhelm Lauritzen. Contemporary designers: Tadao Ando (architect), EOOS (Austrian design trio), Rikke Frost, Naja Utzon Popov, Anker Bak, Brad Ascalon. Range: chairs, armchairs (incl. CH25, CH07, FH429 Safari), sofas, tables, beds (lounge chair, daybed), lighting, outdoor furniture, children's furniture (Peter chair and table by Wegner; limited children's Wishbone CH24 edition 2024). Museum collections: MoMA New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, V&A Museum London. Further references: Nobis Hotel Stockholm, United Nations headquarters New York.
For architects and interior designers seeking Danish design classics for residential, hospitality and office projects — created in over 115 years of family furniture production, with the Wishbone CH24 as the most-produced Danish design chair in history, Wegner designs in the permanent collections of MoMA and the V&A, and a production discipline that consistently maintains over 100 craft steps per chair — Carl Hansen & Søn is the definitive Danish address: the house without which the history of Danish furniture design cannot be told.