PP Møbler 

PP Møbler was founded on 2 April 1953 by brothers Lars Peder and Ejnar Pedersen in Allerød, a small town north of Copenhagen. The Company has evolved through three generations of master cabinetmakers into one of the world’s most important and highly skilled workshops. Each day artisans use advanced traditional techniques as well as cutting edge technology to make some of the most exceptionally demanding and yet beautifully resolved furniture ever designed.

The first generation was a strong team. Lars Peder Pedersen was a man of the workshop with extraordinary skills. His leadership and enthusiasm created an atmosphere that inspired his craftsmen to achieve the high standards which gained the Company a reputation for outstanding quality.

Ejnar Pedersen was more of a creative thinker with a strong network to architects and designers. His frequent experiments and making of prototypes led to the close friendship and collaboration with Hans J. Wegner that has become the cornerstone of the development of the brand.

Three generations of craftsmen

 In 1977 Lars Peder Pedersen retired from the daily management of the company passing the responsibility for the business to his brother, Ejnar. In the same year Ejnar’s son, Søren Holst Pedersen joined the Company and has since strived to modernise the workshop with state of the art machinery and wood technology to improve the accuracy of the work and elaborate the craft capabilities.

Søren Holst’s son, Kasper Holst Pedersen became the third generation to join the Company in 2001. Building on the foundations of previous generations, Kasper has worked to develop the PP brand and to increase sales in order to maintain a healthy growth for the business.

Like the founders, Søren and Kasper are skilled cabinetmakers. Their desire to continue pushing the boundaries of design and crafts is central to the ethos of the Company. The close relationship to Hans J. Wegner and his family has also continued to develop through the generations and each has contributed to the ongoing efforts to establish and maintain the production of Wegner’s fine crafts collection.

Wegner and PP Møbler — Friendship and partnership

 The longstanding collaboration between Hans J. Wegner and PP Møbler has been pivotal to the development of the workshop and brand. Wegner constantly challenged the craftsmen to think in new ways. Wegner’s hands on approach to solve technical challenges and his precise drawings and guidelines made it a pleasure to work on his furniture.

Above all, Wegner was admired and respected for his exceptional cabinetmaker skills. Ejnar Pedersen has said many times, “Wegner is the most skilled cabinetmaker, I have ever met!”

Underpinning this collaboration was the shared pursuit of excellence and the satisfaction of pursuing the more experimental areas of the craft. PP has re-launched several of Wegner’s most challenging designs true to his original ideas and has had the privilege of bringing several new Wegner creations to life.

Wegner was considered a member of the team at PP Møbler and during his frequent visits he would often walk past the offices directly to the work- shop in order to discuss a specific challenge with the craftsmen.

Throughout the 1950’s and 60’s Wegner was busy supplying new designs for six other companies and PP Møbler was content producing prototypes and working as a sub contractor. Nevertheless, during this period Wegner developed a close friendship with Ejnar Pedersen and the staff at PP Møbler.

In 1961, Wegner’s mentor and friend, Master of Craftsmen Johannes Hansen died. Furthermore in 1966, the annual Cabinetmaker’s Guild’s Autumn Exhibition, where Wegner presented most of his visionary work, ceased to operate.

Wegner turned to PP Møbler with an offer for a closer collaboration. In 1969, he designed his first chairs, pp201 / pp203 exclusively for the Company and urged Ejnar Pedersen to start selling under the name and brand of PP Møbler. Wegner himself designed the characteristic logo of PP Møbler and for the following 20 years all of the marketing material for the Company. Thus he intentionally advanced PP Møbler from being sub-supplier into an independent brand.

In the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s the furniture market was heavily influenced by mass production and costs minimisation. Nevertheless it was during this period that Wegner established the core of PP Møbler’s product line. A number of exquisite new products were created featuring highly detailed joinery, ingenious constructions and subtle combinations of wood, steel, rope and upholstery that demonstrate Wegner’s continuing visionary thinking. These include the pp75 table, the Ferry Chair, the Rocking Chair, the Circle Chair and the pp68 / pp58 chair.

An important part of building up the product line was to take over the licenses for discontinued Wegner models. In the mid 1970’s, Chinese Chair pp66, originally designed in 1945 for Fritz Hansen was initiated. Soon after the key designs produced by Andreas Tuck were added to the collection when that business ceased trading.

In 1990 Wegner and PP Møbler finally settled their common ambition for the future of the Company by undertaking the responsibility for the unique collection of modern classics that had been produced in the 1950’s and 60’s by one of the outstanding Danish workshops of the period, Johannes Hansen.

Among Wegner’s masterpieces produced by PP Møbler since this time are the Round Chair, the Minimal Chair, the Peacock Chair, the Architect’s Desk, the Valet Chair, the Tub Chair and many others.

Today the Wegner designs produced at PP Møbler constitute the fine crafts collection of Wegner and demonstrate an impressive insight into the amazing legacy of this true master of modernism.