Great Conversation with Dennie Ditzel

We invite you to discover an interview with daughter of Nanna Ditzel, Dennie Ditzel as she talks of how her mother always managed to persuade foremen to try out things that they thought were impossible: “In most cases, it could be done. So she was very ambitious and innovative and experimental.”

Out of all your mother’s designs, do you have a personal favourite? If so, which one and why does it resonate with you?

Nanna’s designs are very multifaceted, and they include furniture, textiles, jewellery and much more. Therefore it’s very difficult to select one thing or one model as my favourite. I have always been fascinated by the Hanging Egg Chair and internationally it has been very important for Nanna Ditzel Design. From the 80s until 2012 it was produced by the Italian Pierantonio Bonacina, which meant it became an international icon. As you maybe know It’s produced by SIKA DESIGN today. The textile Hallingdal I also love very much. The colour scale for it is wonderfully broad, and there is always the colour you need. And then there is the little toadstool Trissen, which might be my favourite.

Was your childhood marked by a strong sense of creativity? How did this shape your approach to design?

Creativity was a great part of my childhood, and I’m so lucky about that. You can’t give a child anything better than creativity, the joy of creating. I was brought up with design, so for me, it was a part of my surroundings. I was about 6 years old when I experienced and discovered that things could be designed. I discovered that things could be different, which gave me a sense of curiosity, a feeling that design helped to create.

Thanks to The Great Danes for celebrating Nanna Ditzel’s 100th birthday. It’s a shame Australia is so far away – I would have loved to visit your shops and see the exhibitions.

– Dennie Ditzel

As the CEO of Nanna Ditzel Design Studio, how do you navigate the delicate balance of preserving the essence of your mother’s work while propelling it into the future?

We had an agreement with Nanna not to design new models, but to go down in the archives, find old models and develop them for new productions, maybe in new materials and perhaps a bit bigger, since humans have increased in size by 9% on average since the 50s. Nanna was not interested in the past, for her the future was far more interesting. If something is in the process of being relaunched it’s very, very important that you have a good feeling in your stomach. The measuring tape should say it’s okay, but so should your stomach and your aesthetic sense.

What’s next for your work at Nanna Ditzel Design? Do you have any exciting reissues or anything you would like to share?

At the end of September, Trapholt Design and Art Museum in Kolding, Denmark, will open an exhibition of Nanna’s work. It will be the first retrospective exhibition about Nanna. It celebrates the centenary of her birth. This is a big thing for us and we’ve been busy preparing for it for months. Some old models are going to be relaunched in the near future, but we never share things like these before the manufacturers relaunch the models. So keep an eye on our website or our Instagram.

A Pioneer of Her Time

A true visionary in the world of design, Nanna Ditzel possessed an extraordinary array of talents that spanned across various disciplines. From her groundbreaking furniture creations to her innovative textile designs and jewellery marvels, Ditzel’s diverse range of abilities knew no bounds.