Leibal Volumes 02: 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen
Copenhagen through our founder's eyes, and interior inspiration from our archives.
Hi again, and a big thank you to our new (and existing) subscribers who are following along behind the scenes at Leibal. We are happy to have you here.
June was a big month for the design world, and our founder Leo was very busy doing the Copenhagen rounds. Me - Julia, Leibal’s design director, hello - had the opportunity to visit Antwerp Design Week in early June, and then finally catch up with our elusive founder in Denmark.
By the way: Leo and I run a different company together called The Design Release, where we focus on design exhibitions around the world. We get a little critical on our substack there sometimes so check us out over there for a bit of a juicy scoop on the past month of design, and opinions of both fairs, including some anonymous opinions from industry friends. That issue will be out July 1.
So here, on Leibal, Leo and I wanted to write a Copenhagen-centric newsletter to discuss everything he saw, his favorite exhibitions, and the best new products aka novelties, a word I use way too often now. Novelties. Some of these novelties will be up on Leibal Store soon. As always, if you see something you like, reply here and I’ll help you get your hands on it.
Leo in Copenhagen, by Leo
I arrived to Denmark a few days prior to 3daysofdesign to film Dinesen's Country Home for our A Day In series on youtube. The home was stunning, but to be able to touch and use John Pawson's collaboration of furniture within the home felt like an incredible privilege. We partnered with a few of our favorite brands for this shoot, including Frama, and were able to get a sneak peek of Frama’s exhibition Structures of Living before the 3daysofdesign crowds arrived.
From there, the official 3daysofdesign kicked off, where I was part of the official Press Tour. The tour is an extremely regimented program, but I was able to carve out some free time to see as much as I could outside of the itinerary. The most memorable exhibit on Day 1 was the Home from Home exhibition - an exploration of home as a space shaped by “light, time, and feeling” - where messiness and coziness prevail.
An exhibition we checked out on tour was by Fanzi - a gallery and creative platform whose focus is turning everyday objects into unique works of art, featuring works from both Taiwanese and Danish designers. The space was beautiful and there were many unique pieces we will aim to cover in the next few weeks on Leibal’s editorial.
On the second day, I saw Ariake's newest exhibition at The Canary - it was a beautiful collection in a beautiful space. Another favorite from Day 2 was touring Lee Broom's newest exhibition From Here Now, which was held at the historic Asia House. The crates used to ship the pieces to Denmark were cleverly used as displays and plinths. Across from Lee Broom was Ark Journal's second edition of DESIGN / DIALOGUE, which held its prestige with several emerging designers mixed with established brands, with my highlights being Basalto Collective and Bassam Fellows.
TIME & STYLE, a gallery we have featured many times on Leibal, presented their iconic Peter Zumthor lounge chair, along with a number of new dining chairs which we will feature on Leibal editorial soon.
The highlight for the last day on-tour was Fredericia and Santa & Cole, two brands we love (we also carry Fredericia furniture). They re-released several new pieces, including Bench for Two by Danish design icon Nanna Ditzel.
Lastly, I was able to check out Gabrial Tan's Origin Made exhibition at Hotel D’angleterre, and finally had the opportunity to try Meia Lua Armchair in person.
Off-tour, probably my favorite visit was to Other Circle - which may have been one of my favorite shows during the week. The 4,000 sqm exhibition featured many of our friends and brands we have either featured in our editorial or retail collection (Lotto, NM3, Santa & Cole, to name a few).
The last night ended with one of our favorite partners, Fritz Hansen, who had a party at their flagship store. They presented Shaping Lasting Design, which included the new After series by Michael Anastassiades, the Solae portable lamp by Cecilie Manz. We should have those up in the shop soon!
Shop The Look - Copenhagen Edition
We love to revisit our archives, and since our focus is on Copenhagen this month we wanted to spotlight a 2024 project by our friends Norm Architects - the ultimate experts in warm minimalism.
Holmen Abode is a home located in Copenhagen that combines Japanese and Scandinavian elements, resulting in a peaceful, balanced interior featuring both heritage and contemporary design.
You can see the original feature here, and you can shop the look below:
The rivet table, a favorite of ours from Frama, and the Covent 3-Seater sofa by New Works are two of our best sellers, and pieces we have in our own homes.
The Covent is available in many more fabrics than shown in our shop, so reach out to sales@leibal.com for any customization inquiries.
Devon Liedtke’s Ceramic Lava Vase is a newer item from our shop collection, and adds beautiful organic texture - a perfect antidote to a room that feels a bit flat.
For these and future newsletter selections, you can shop our editor picks here:
https://store.leibal.com/collections/editor-picks
That’s it for our June newsletter, but we will be back towards the end of July with more. If there’s anything you want to hear more about or learn more about, just reply to this email to get in touch.
Julia + Leo
So good!
❤️