Nordic Council / Scandia Export Alliance Gudmund Saxrud Danish Commerce Center Challenge: Elevate practicality to luxury |
||
There has been a long-held stereotype about Scandinavian products that, like all good clichés, has some basis in fact. Traditionally, one thought about Scandinavian design in the context of its focus on simple forms, practical use, and functionality – all fine attributes – but ones that don't really signal "luxury" or "high style". |
Apparel, home furnishings, leather goods, and giftware served as the primary product groups. All factories involved in the program were supplied with raw materials from our central resource that was created expressly for this venture — textiles, organic-dyed hides, yarns and fibers. |
|
In 1981, two organizations expressed their concerns about this limiting perception, and decided to change this outdated worldview of goods produced across the Scandinavian region. |
Another special effort involved engineering cross-category compatibilities, through styling details and design elements, for all of the new products created for this program. This eventually facilitated developing consumer marketing programs and trade displays that assimilated products from several manufacturers and brands in a single cohesive image – as if they all worked naturally together – the obvious choices for a stylishly integrated life. | |
ConsuLuxe agreed to help enhance awareness of worthy Scandinavian aesthetics, and replace inappropriate perceptions with ones valued by wealthy consumers in other importing nations. Vibrant colors, excellent craftsmanship, and quality raw materials would remain as the core set of elements. Chic styling, organic origins, contemporary vibe, classic comfort, and an edge of fashion-irreverence would be added to the mix. |
With this work, over a 30-month period, the collective export trade of all Scandinavian countries substantially increased for high-value consumer goods destined for sophisticated international markets. |
