Less is More

The age-old maxim that “if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well” is epitomised by the approach of Danish design brand LoCa, which for more than two decades has focused on the production of a limited but exquisitely manufactured range of products. Inspired by the legacy of great Danish design and craftsmanship, the company has steadily established itself as one of the country’s premier design brands.

The LoCa story began in 1992, when its founder, engineer Thorkild Lundsgaard was searching for an attractive and functional coat rack to install in his daughter’s bedroom. Not satisfied with the options available on the market, Lundsgaard set about trying to produce something suitable in his garage. The first attempts were unsuccessful, but the pursuit of a high-quality solution led Lundsgaard to approach the design studio of Harrit & Sørensen, which helped him develop the iconic Knax coat rack. The elegant and precisely detailed design was launched in 1995 and has been a bestseller ever since.

Knax exemplifies the LoCa approach in its aesthetic simplicity and intelligent functionality. “My main idea with the coat rack was that you have many hooks and you only use a few of them,” Lundsgaard recalls. “The designers took that idea and made it so if there are hooks that are not in use they can disappear.” Taking the form of a meticulously cut and hand-finished wooden board interrupted by evenly spaced aluminium hooks that pivot outwards when needed, Knax is a refined and timeless expression of the Lundsgaard’s original concept.

The success of Knax could have prompted the entrepreneur to quickly expand and diversify the company’s product range, but instead LoCa has gradually added new items that solve specific problems in unique and intelligent ways. “It’s about quality not quantity,” he insists. “When we make new products we always say we want to make something different to what is already available.” Rather than a huge collection of disparate items, LoCa offers each product in its limited catalogue in a range of sizes, materials and finishes to suit different interior schemes. Knax, for example, is available in five sizes, ten types of wood or 15 paint colours, with three colours of hook. “It’s quite a small collection but each product has a very distinct reason for existing,” Lundsgaard adds.

A wall-mounted shoe rack, mirror and vertical coat stand are among around a dozen products that LoCa has introduced over the years, all of which were designed by Harrit & Sørensen. It’s a strategy that has helped the firm grow slowly but steadily, as well as enabling it to survive the recent economic turmoil. “When we started out, there was a similar Danish company making household goods but making five new products every year,” Lundsgaard remembers. “We make one new product every five years, but we are still here and they are not, so maybe it was right to do it our way.”

LoCa is based in Tureby, about 50 kilometres south of Copenhagen, and the firm’s Danish heritage is a key part of its identity. The products are all manufactured locally using the finest materials and craftsmanship, in much the same way as the classic designs of Hans Wenger and Børge Mogensen. “I really wanted to make things in Denmark,” says its founder. “When I started my production in 1995, a lot of companies sent everything to China because it was cheap, and I thought this can’t be right, it must be possible to produce in Denmark too.” The company now employs around a dozen people in Tureby, from carpenters to accountants.

The decision to focus on a limited portfolio of premium products with an emphasis on quality of design and manufacturing is a brave approach in a market flooded with cheap alternatives, but Lundsgaard trusts that customers looking for quality will continue coming to LoCa. “Anyone who wants to pay the price for our product will never buy a cheap one in the supermarket, and the people who want to buy it very cheap will never pay our price in the furniture store, so it's not a big problem for us,” he claims. “Our main aim is to make a nice product with a long lifespan, good materials, high-quality finish and so the price is not a parameter for us.”

In the last three years, the company has released three new products, including the shoe rack and a hardwearing, waterproof Corian version of the Knax coat rack that is suited to use in kitchens and bathrooms. This unusual volume of new releases means the current focus is on establishing the necessary production capacity and promoting the products, which can be challenging for such a small team. It also means that LoCa is in no hurry to develop more designs, although if an opportunity arises to create something special and unique, Lundsgaard will be ready. “We are still open to the right ideas,” he says, “and when they come along we are prepared to go ahead again with new products.” It might be a while until the LoCa catalogue sees its next new addition, but it will probably be worth the wait.

© Architonic