enduring legacy

Vipp's CEO Morten Woldum tells us about the Danish company's pursuit of long-lasting quality and meticulous designs

- Amy Van

Vipp is a third-generation family-owned Danish company founded by metalsmith Holger Nielsen in 1939 in the small town of Randers. The core product is the pedal-controlled bin, that Nielson made for his wife Marie Axelsen who had wanted something practical and durable for her hairdressing salon.

When Holger passed away in 1992, his daughter Jette inherited the bin and metal workshop. Together with her children, Kasper and Sofie Egelund, they set out to transform the bin into a brand. When the bin was accepted into the permanent design and architecture collection at MoMA in New York, the family knew that they are on the right track.

Tell us about the company’s vision and its evolution from kitchens to guesthouses and beyond.

Kasper Egelund thought that it was a good idea to do a prefab house that’s so iconic that we can fit in our kitchens. So we went from doing a kitchen for the bin, to doing a house for the kitchen. And that’s where the shelter in Sweden came about in 2014.

When we did the shelter, we didn’t have much furniture. So from doing the guesthouses, we realised that furniture should be the next category. With furniture, you also need lighting. Our fifth category is outdoor furniture. We took some of our indoor products and treated them to withstand the weather, and then we launched that.

We are quite proud of the furniture range that we’ve managed to do in such a short time. Today, we have a full range including sofas, lounge chairs, coffee tables, lot of dining sets and three different series of chairs.

What do you envision Vipp’s portfolio growth to be in the next few years?