Recently, I attended and participated in 3 Days of Design, Denmark’s official design festival. 

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The festival is a staple on the design calendar for industry professionals and design enthusiasts alike. This year, the fair coincided with the launch of Tolv Europe, providing the perfect backdrop for Tolv to unveil and showcase many of my designs to the European market. 

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Tolv, established in 2014, is an international furniture brand rooted in Danish design through its ownership, attention to detail, materiality, and craftsmanship. Tolv has distribution in Asia-Pacific, North America, and now, Europe. Over the years Tolv’s collection matured with input from many international designers, including Cameron Foggo, Ryota Yokozeki, Stine Aas and others, giving the brand a unique and universal design signature.

 

As a European-Australian, born in Warsaw, I was both humbled and excited to be launching and sharing my designs with a region that is my second home and has long inspired me creatively. 

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Being at the festival not only allowed me to showcase my designs but also afforded me the opportunity to catch up with fellow designers, including many from Australia and explore other exhibitions and showrooms.

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Creating space to slow down and reflect

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One main thing that stood out and resonated with me at this year’s festival was a clear push against the fast-paced world that we live in with a distinct focus on comfort, peace, tranquility, and calmness reflected in interiors and furniture.This was echoed in the festival’s theme - Make This Moment Matter. 

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Sustainability, form, function, comfort, and the natural environment are all integral to my design ethos and aesthetic - reflected in my latest design, Luk Chair. Luk has a timeless aesthetic and robust construction, celebrating high-quality renewable materials, function, and comfort – all integral components to traditional Danish design. 

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The versatility of the design allows for efficient stacking, variety of finishes and customisable options depending on preferences - upholstered, rattan, dark walnut or light oak and now a stool option. 

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In contrast, the Poise Chair, one of my first designs for Tolv, has a more classic design aesthetic with refined proportions and subtle details, including a floating seat, softly tapered legs, and a seamless frame transition.​​

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Tactility, vibrancy, and comfort as a design language

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Beyond my own collection, the broader festival reinforced this same sensibility. There was a strong appreciation for items and fabrics that were visually interesting, comforting, and invited a level of human interaction — a clear desire and focus on tactility and vibrancy.

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Comfort was a resounding theme and is very much central to the Pambula lounge and chair (named after a quaint beachside town on the far south coast of Australia). The design provides refuge and warmth through its rounded soft form and generous proportions while also evoking a nostalgia and retro charm.

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Finding Balance in Natural Form 

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The Eden table similarly draws on the natural environment, celebrating organic form and rejecting mathematical order in its placement and shape. It leans into a less structured aesthetic, with the range representing a balance and composure that is only ever found in nature. That same instinct to create environments of calm and control was echoed throughout the festival, particularly in the way light and sound were used to shape mood and atmosphere.

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Light, sound, and spaces of disconnection

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This was central to New Works' exhibition, Meditation in an Emergency, but also ran as a common thread through many others. What stood out was a clear focus on our own environment: the one we can define, shape, and to an extent control. DEORON's peaceful, meditative, reflective, and calming setting offered a welcome relief from the crowded streets outside, allowing visitors a genuine sense of disconnection.

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An increasing international cross-disciplinary festival 

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Beyond mood and atmosphere, this sense of intentional shaping extended to how the festival itself was structured, particularly in its growing embrace of cross-disciplinary collaboration. Industrial design, collectable design, craft design, fashion design, car design (Hem & Porsche), architecture, and culinary collaborations were all prominent.

 

Traditionally, 3 Days of Design was a predominantly Danish affair; now the festival is clearly international in nature, showcasing brands from all over, including Japan, Australia, and South Korea. The festival really leans into and celebrates these collaborations, a refreshing approach in the face of global tension.

 

Collaboration at the core of design

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Despite the constant noise and pressure around us, which inevitably pushes us inwards into our own inner sanctuaries, there is also a clear desire to collaborate, extending creativity outwards to find new connections and synergies with fellow creatives.

 

This was evident in design collaborations like Claire Delmar's Latitude showcase of Australian design, the union between Danish old guard and emerging designers (Inner Circle), and the launch of new brands with Danish heritage and international linkages, like Tolv.

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