Designed by: Folke PalssonProduced by: Hay Hay Fray Rectangular Grey Cushion Designed by: HayProduced by: HayHay About A Chair AAC12 Designed by: HayDesigned by: Hee WellingProduced by: Hay Designed by: Sebastian WrongProduced by: Hay In Stock Hay Lup Square Candle Holder Designed by: Shane SchneckProduced by: Hay In Stock Hay Kaleido Trays Designed by: Clara Von ZweigbergkProduced by: Hay Hay is a young company founded very recently in 2003 by Rolf and Mette Hay. The company’s ambition is to recreate the 1950’s & 1960’s fashion for great Danish design, but to do this in a manner which is affordable and accessible without and loss of quality – this is quite an ambition. However since the early 2000’s the company has assumed an increasing significance and is moving rapidly towards achieving its goal. “When we make a new chair, we always choose a designer with experience and courage.” As with most contemporary design companies Hay is quick to utilise new designers, ideas and technology – this has resulted in a collection of furniture and accessories that certainly has a resonance with more traditional Danish design but achieves this in a very up to date manner.
In its simplest form their designs express straight forward, joyful and uncomplicated notions in very attractive and beautifully manufactured pieces, a good example being the Hay about a chair. In November of 2012 Mette & Rolf Hay received the annual award of Danish Design – chairman of the Danish Design Council Mads Norgaard explained the award nomination: “We do this to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship in everything you do. In just a few years you have managed to create a company which, as the most natural thing in the world collaborate with the most brilliant designers from near and far without regard to either nationality or background. There is an attitude behind everything you do.” The Award of the Danish Design Council is one of the most important national accomplishments as can be seen from the list of previous recipients including Hans Wegner, Verner Panton, Nanna Ditzel, Jørgen Nørgaard, Bo Linnemann and Knud Holscher. The companies core philosophies are ably demonstrated through the recent collaboration with Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec and the furniture designed for the University of Copenhagen.
In this project the furniture has a clear connection with the historic architect Bernt Pedersens trestle chair, this typology (a trestle design) results in a chair of great simplicity which has more than a nod to domestic design (as opposed to the more typical contract plastic chairs seen in higher education institutions) the reasoning behind this is refreshingly straight forward – as Ronan Bourollec comments; “One of the challenges that universities are facing today is that students do not stay at school after classes. The general aim of the project is to motivate students to stay on campus a little longer. So the idea was to do a chair which could be more domestic than a contract chair. We worked on the sensual feature of this collection – hence the working title: “A strong sensual stackable wooden chair”. The resulting chair is interesting in many regards, its origins in design reference Bauhaus traditions, and in particular the 1930’s German cantilever chairs, the A shaped legs also result in efficiencies in production and manufacture, the chair shell is split, creating a comfortable but cost effective solution, the A frame design also enables the chair to stack vertically, a clear operational advantage when used within its intended environments in schools and colleges.
The collection having just won the Best Design 2013 by interiors magazine Bolig Magasinet is now available in the companies wider collection. Other recent developments include the opening of new showrooms in Munich (April 2013) as well as Denmark, Norway, Belgium & the Netherlands, and most recently the opening of “Wrong for Hay” a collaboration between Hay and London based designer Sebastian Wrong adding a bespoke designed range off furniture, lighting and accessories to the collection. Hay is certainly one to watch.Did you successfully complete your main reason for visiting RetailMeNot today? What is your main reason for visiting RetailMeNot today? Thanks for your feedback, we are always working to make RetailMeNot a better site to save you money. About A Chair AAC22 / AAC 22 Hay Copenhague Table CPH30 Hay Copenhague Desk Table CPH10 Hay About a Stool AAS32 / AAS 32 Stool Hay Copenhague Deux CPH210 Table Hay Connect Bed Bett Hay Slit Table Oblong Hay
About A Chair AAC27/ AAC 27 Chair Hay Gym Hanger Hay SINGLE PIECES Hee Lounge Chair Hay About a Stool AAS38 / AAS 38 Stool Hay Loop Stand Support Hay Lup Table candlestick HAY About a Chair AAC23 / AAC 23 Hay J77 Chair Dining Chair Hay Loop Stand Table Hay Mags Soft Lounge Sofa Hay DLM XL Serving Table Hay Copenhague Desk CPH90 Hay Copenhague Table round CPH20 Hay Palissade outdoor table Hay Can 3 seater Hay DLM Don´t leave me Side Table Hay Elephant Table Hay SINGLE PIECES Quilt Sleeve Laptop Cover Hay - unique Copenhague Chair CPH Hay About A Chair AAC22 / AAC 22 Chair Front Upholstery Hay S&B Dot Carpet Hay Copenhague Deux CPH215 Bench Hay Loop Stand Wardrobe Garderobe Hay Playing Cards card game Hay Bjorn 3-Seater Sofa Hay About A Lounge Chair High AAL93 / AAL 93 Chair Hay About A Chair AAC12 / AAC 12 Chair Hay About a Stool AAS33 / AAS 33 Stool Hay
J104 Chair Dining Chair Hay Colour Plaid blanket Hay Hackney Sofa 2-seater Hay New Order Vertical Shelf Hay About A Chair AAC42 / AAC 42 Low Chair Hay Woody Low Shelf Hay Copenhague Desk CPH190 Hay Bjorn 2-Seater Sofa Hay Pinocchio Multi color Carpet Hay S&B Tea Towels Kitchen towels pack of 2 Hay Two Ways Carpet Hay Ori Salt & Pepper Grinder Hay Paper Porcelain Vase Hay Marble Pendant light Wrong.London Iso Hook set of 3 wall hooks Hay About A Chair AAC19 / AAC 19 Chair Hay Mags 2 1/2-Seater Sofa Hay Twisted Hanger pack of 5 Hay About A Chair AAC08 / AAC 08 Chair Hay It was only in 2003 when Hay entered the stage of the design world - the Danish manufacturer presented its products for the first time at the IMM Cologne. When one thinks of Danish design, famous furniture classics by well-known designers for high prices come to mind - the manufacturer Hay dancing deliberately out of line. Hay does not want to copy the old masters - their work should rather serve as a source of inspiration for modern and contemporary creations.
To adorn themselves with famous designer names was not the aim of Rolf Hay, the namesake and founder. Instead, they wanted to create design products that are functional, distinctive and affordable in the first place. While Rolf Hay initially designed many products himself, it nevertheless came to collaborations over the years with partly known, partly coming designers. The Copenhague Collection earned great prestige which was designed by the brothers Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec to furnish the University of Copenhagen. The furniture should be functional and aesthetically convincing - that this has been achieved is demonstrated by the great success of the Copenhague Collection. The collaboration with Sebastian Wrong resulted in its own sub-brand - the program of "Wrong for Hay" includes modern seating furniture, lighting and home accessories, which are distinguished by their unmistakable style. The shelving system New Order is also a great success, which Stefan Diez developed for Hay.
Again Hay succeeded in balancing between mass production and high quality design. New Order is an efficiently produced industrial product that is affordable, yet of high-quality materials. One thing is certain: Hay likes it modern - timeless design is not Rolf Hays claim, because in his opinion, the attempt to create something timeless ends with a product that was never really up to date. That Rolf Hay would be well-known on the design furniture market no one could foresee. Rather by chance the young Dane landed in a furniture shop in Hanover after graduating from high school. During his work there he also visited the Cologne Furniture Fair – and thought the legendary chair "ant" by Arne Jacobsen from 1952 was the Fair novelty. From then on his interest was piqued and Rolf Hay progressed further in the industry - first by promoting Peter Biehl, the former agent of Montana, and then through activities at Gubi and Paustian in Copenhagen. During his work at Gubi Rolf met his wife Mette, who knew the Danish domestic culture by heart - her parents ran a successful furniture business already.
Shortly after a fateful meeting happened - Rolf Hay got to know Troels Holch Povlsen, first as customer whose house he should furnish. The two men found that they had similar views of furnishing and Povlsen furthermore had the necessary funds for a joint project. So at the beginning of the millennium Hay was founded - with the creative minds Mette and Rolf Hay on one side and the large scale manufacturer Povlsen as owner of the textile corporation Bestseller on the other side. Povlsen had the needed business know-how in order to build and develop a company - an important foundation, which contributed significantly to Hays success. Architectural statics meets dynamics of fashion - inspired by Troels Holch Povlsens work in the textile sector: Hay offers a wide range of products ranging from furniture to carpets and bed clothes to office materials and decorative items. There is none says Rolf Hay. For him the products are important and the people for whom they are made - and not dogmatically imposed strategies.
Hay creates distinctive design at an affordable price - in the furniture sector the iconic "About A Chair" designed by Hee Welling is one of the best sellers. The all-rounder with wooden frame and plastic seating shell is not only an every-day furniture but a design object as well. In Germany, Hay got famous with its colourful felt ball carpet "Pinocchio” a design that immediately draws everyone's attention. Sustainability is also an issue for the Danish manufacturer: The Chair “Nobody” created by Komplot Design is made entirely of moulded PET felt, a fabric which is made from PET bottles. Everyday objects with recognition value, functionality and a touch of humor – that is Hay´s success recipe. The best example is the table "Do not Leave Me" by Thomas Bentzen, a small side table with handle. Does a table need a handle? Not necessarily, and yet it adds to the charm of the side table- many Hay products come with exactly this wink. In the heart of Copenhagen the showroom of the Danish manufacturer is located within an Art Nouveau building - and is just as calm as Hay´s Design.
The shop has two floors but no display window. Nevertheless, experts know exactly where they can find the Hay House. The vision of the Hay couple has even been creatively embodied: The stairs of the Maisonette building has an English Bannister, which combines both ancient and modern elements. Overall, the Hay House is more like a busy store with apartment flair than a cold showroom. Basically the Hay House reflects exactly what characterizes the manufacturer: freshness, vitality and passion for beautiful design. On course for success: "Hay syndrome" instead of "Ikea effect" Today Hay is one of the leading manufacturer in the designer furniture sector - but what is the secret of the company’s success? Hay has created a market niche for itself - between long-established design brands such as Vitra, Thonet on one side and mass producers like Ikea on the other. Thus Hay serves a broad audience that wants to benefit from the advantages of both worlds and find buyers all over the world – trend rising.