Fredericia Collaborates with Lærke Ryom on Buckle-Fastened Upholstery Chair

Lærke Ryom: Life Lies in the Folds

For the 2025 edition of The Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition (Snedkernes Efterårsudstilling, SE), Fredericia is proud to collaborate with Danish designer Lærke Ryom, representing a new generation of voices and viewpoints, building on Fredericia’s legacy of supporting experimental design by matching it with the possibilities embedded in skilled craftsmanship.

Drawing on the know-how and skilled hands of Fredericia’s upholsterers in the Svendborg workshop, the collaboration has resulted in an inviting lounge chair that challenges traditional expectations of its category.

Ryom’s project explores the expressive potential of upholstery. Instead of pursuing perfection, she allows fabric and structure to move, fold, and record the traces of life – revealing a softer, more open form of design expression.

“ Normally, furniture is designed to hide any imprint, to appear tight, pristine, but I like the idea that you can see someone has just sat there. Those marks are traces of life. ”
Lærke Ryom

Here, Ryom is seen in the upholstery workshop alongside Rasmus Graversen, CEO and third-generation member of the family behind Fredericia.

Working closely with Fredericia’s upholsterers, Ryom developed a chair where loose textile surfaces are fastened with buckle closures — a sartorial gesture borrowed from clothing, familiar yet surprising in a furniture context. The result is a piece that is tactile, alive, and above all, open to change, perfectly embodying the theme of transformation.

“I am known to work with upholstery, but working with Fredericia’s craftsmen has given me an entirely new language to work with,” says Ryom.

Keep exploring

Fredericia’s long-standing involvement with The Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition is more than tradition. It reflects the company’s belief that design must always remain open to new voices and new directions. By providing designers with access to workshops, materials, and expertise, Fredericia helps bold ideas materialise and mature into lasting contributions.

https://www.fredericia.com/inspiration/cabinetmakers-autumn-exhibition

Images and content courtesy of Fredericia Furniture.
Find out more about their work at https://www.fredericia.com/