Danish designer Rikke Frost (born 1973) has always been interested in combining different craft traditions and materials. This is also clearly reflected in her design portfolio, in which traditional and contemporary design is interpreted in sofas, tables, chairs and lamps using an organic design language. This also applies to the Sideways sofa, Rikke Frost's first collaboration with Carl Hansen & Søn. Here, classic materials such as woven paper cord and wood merge with a modern, functional design.
Rikke Frost's interest in handicrafts and materials goes back to her childhood in the small Danish town of Bov. Her interest later led her to the Aarhus School of Architecture, where she trained as an industrial designer. Although her studies focussed on industry, Rikke Frost decided to concentrate on furniture design and has since designed furniture for several renowned Danish and international companies. However, industrial design has had a decisive influence on her design process, and production possibilities have always been part of her initial considerations. She chooses materials, shapes and craftsmanship methods that can best be integrated into modern production - such as at Carl Hansen & Søn's furniture factory on Funen, Denmark, where old craft traditions such as wickerwork with woven paper cord and high-tech production go hand in hand.
After several years in London, where Rikke Frost worked as a designer and buyer at Heal & Son, she returned to Denmark in 2004 to set up her own design studio, Rikke Frost Design. She later also began teaching at the Aarhus School of Architecture. In 2019, Rikke Frost took part in the TV programme "Danmarks næste klassiker" (Denmark's next classic), a competition in which she and four other Danish designers had to produce six different pieces of furniture in a short period of time to create Denmark's next design classic. As part of this TV programme, Rikke Frost designed the Sideways sofa in just three weeks and her design was chosen as the winner in this category. Rikke Frost has won several awards and has been nominated several times, including the Danish Design Award and the Bolig Magasinets Design Award. She has also participated in several exhibitions, including the Women in Danish Furniture Design exhibition at the Trapholt Museum of Modern Art in Kolding, Denmark.
