Design

Interior Design Brand Frama Embodies Scandanavian Minimalism

With a strict focus on creating beautiful objects for everyday use, the Danish design brand explores timelessness and universality.

furniture flooring wood floor bar stool plywood hardwood table

Frama, a Danish multidisciplinary design brand, has a strong, particularly Scandinavian point of view. An emphasis on quality materials, organic forms, and a stripped-back approach to decorating informs most of Frama’s projects, from furniture to fragrance to homewares. The brand also outfits commercial spaces, including restaurants and retail stores around the world. Niels Strøyer Christophersen, Frama’s founder and creative director, is at the heart of the brand’s decidedly minimal aesthetic.

Before founding Frama in 2010, Christophersen worked on construction sites. “This helped form my taste for raw, pure materials, and taught me to appreciate minimal, bare spaces,” he says.

Though the brand’s offerings are far-reaching, each launch is subject to careful consideration. “We try not to produce more than 10 or 15 new products per year,” says Christophersen. Frama is already gearing up for several new launches in the coming months, from collaborations with designers to a new line of ceramics, kitchen utensils, and additional furniture pieces.

L’OFFICIEL dives into the curated world of Frama with Christophersen and the brand’s director of communications, Teodora Kolchagova.

clothing apparel footwear person human shoe
Niels Strøyer Christophersen photographed by Maureen M. Evans.

L’OFFICIEL: What was the idea when you first started Frama?

NIELS STRØYER CHRISTOPHERSEN: It wasn’t so much about creating products as it was about thinking of a space for expression. The products came to concretize these reflections, to give body to emotions. Our first collection was made of ceramics, which represented our DNA: simple, useful, durable, and clean, with a neutral color palette. I would like to propose creations for everyday use, but with character and a strong presence, so that they aren’t boring.

"Frama doesn’t just want to sell products—we want to express something multidimensional."

L’O: What are the biggest challenges you have faced?

NSC: It’s a very personal journey. You’re building a business, but there’s a world, a market, that you have no control over. You want everyone on your team to be happy and free to express themselves. When you don’t work according to trends, you have to think about still being relevant and contemporary. I think we’re getting there! We always try to surprise our customers—and surprise ourselves too. I was watching a documentary the other night about the Italian singer Lucio Dalla, who never did what was expected of him. If Frama got too predictable, then we’d have to worry.

TEODORA KOLCHAGOVA: Some brands produce certain products only because they know they will work commercially. Here, everyone has a voice in the chapter; we have the freedom to experiment. There is a playfulness. We can’t always produce what we have in mind, but that’s the beauty of being part of Frama.

Frama Kitchen Interior Design
The Apotek 57 café photographed by Kim Holtermand.

L’O: How do you grow your business while still remaining true to these values?

NSC: We’ve expanded into different categories. In 2016, we published our first book, Dialogues, and then in 2020 launched the St. Pauls Apothecary collection, a line of skincare and fragrance. The dynamic between this launch and other creations, such as bath linens, more recently, was consistent. 

TK: St. Pauls Apothecary was the perfect invitation to explore Frama’s universe as a gateway to our furniture and home goods. 

NSC: A few months ago, we opened our café, Apotek 57, in Copenhagen, which also serves as a showroom for our creations. We like the idea that food brings people together. Moreover, we are launching a line of kitchen furnishings, but all this has happened organically—we thought of it after opening the café.

L’O: What does “Frama” mean?

NSC: It’s up to everyone to make their own interpretation... But I had this name in mind for a long time. It’s universal and easy to remember. Typographically, it was strong too.

TK: Between frame and Prada!

wood shelf hardwood furniture plywood living room room indoors flooring
“Utilitarian Living,” Frama’s installation for 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen, photographed by Paolo Galgani.

L’O: What is your design philosophy?

TK: Objects have meaning. They are made to be used on a daily basis, to last and be passed down, and to take on new dimensions. You have to learn to live with objects.

NSC: Frama doesn’t just want to sell products—we want to express something multidimensional, thinking about the space we live in. So many aspects are interwoven in a living space: the food that one prepares in it, the conversations that one holds there, the materials that decorate it. When we present ourselves as a universe larger than just a set of products, people are more receptive and feel more involved. They expect a particular commitment to sustainability.

L’O: To what extent is Frama a Scandinavian brand?

NSC: I was reading a book about a Japanese architect who said that throughout his career, he wanted to create international architecture that wasn’t Japanese. But everyone reminded him of his origins. Later in his life, he admitted that no matter what he did, he would remain Japanese. As far as I am concerned, I will always be Scandinavian. But I can be influenced by work from other countries; we travel a lot, and our collaborators come from everywhere. A South Korean friend told me that Frama was the most authentically Danish brand, that we were the new Fritz Hansen or Carl Hansen.

Tags

Recommended posts for you