FRI FORM DESIGNER
ELSA STACKELBERG
Elsa stackelberg was the countess who loved to dance, play and surround her self with beautiful things. Her creativity found many expressions throughout her life, from fashion to furniture design.
When prince Bertil discovered her outdoor furniture at the Norrköping Exhibition in 1964, it marked the beginning of Fri Form - with Elsa Stackelberg as its designer and a design language that continues to live on through the decades.
ELSA STACKELBERGS LIFE
A vivid story
She was born in Oslo in 1929 and grew up as an only child in a middle-class home. Early on, she developed a lively imagination and a strong sense of form and aesthetics. Her childhood in Norway was abruptly interrupted when the war broke out, and Elsa, together with her mother, was forced to flee across the border to Sweden.
In Uppsala, she stayed with her family where she attended school and, to a large extent, had to manage on her own. When the war ended, she returned to Oslo, and life gradually began to fins its shape again.
Elsa began studying at the National College of Art and Design in Oslo, initially focusing on fashion and clothing design. She later married the physician Kit Colfach and, like many women of the time, became a housewife. Yet her creativity was always present and would eventually take a new direction.
Creativity takes form
In 1950, the family moved to Västervik (Sweden), where Kit had taken a position as a senior physician at the hospital. Life changed, but the role of a housewife never truly suited Elsa. Her creativity needed space, and she began creating jewellery.
It did not take long before her work attracted attention. An Easter decoration called "Hönebjer", caught the interest of Nordiska Kompaniet Stockholm. It was taken in and displayed in all the shop windows along Hamngatan ahead of Easter.
Elsa also designed a dress for the exclusive fashion house "Märthaskolan". It quickly became popular among the well-dressed women of the time.
Original sketches of Sunlounger 31
In 1960, Elsa divorced and soon remarried with count Berndt Stackelberg and moved to Stensnäs estate outside Västervik, where he ran a farm. After a few years, the business changed direction and the couple began producing prefabricated houses. One of the houses was exhibited at the Norrköping exhibition, NU64 - but something was missing at the veranda in front of the house -
Elsa designed Sunlounger 31. Its simple, elegant form quickly became something truly distinctive.
At the exhibition, Prince Bertil of Sweden was among the visitors. Surrounded by houses and furniture, it was Sunlounger 31 that caught his attention. He asked to buy it, and Elsa agreed to sell the piece on display. She could make more - and that is exactly what she and Berndt did. The prefabricated houses were set aside, outdoor furniture took over and Fri Form was born.
While Elsa designed the furniture, Berndt built up the production. With technical ingenuity, he developed machines and solutions together with the estate´s workshop to make manufacturing possible.
At the same time, Fri Form grows
The income from the furniture was used to restore Stensnäs estate to its former glory. Elsa led the renovation, ensuring every detail was exactly as she envisioned. At the same time, Fri Form continued to grow.
The factory had only a few employees, but during the winter months the workshop came alive, with 15-20 people working in production. many of them local farmers. When spring arrived, they returned to their farms, while the furniture was shipped on to retailers in Sweden and beyond.
During the summers, Elsa worked on new ideas. She designed furniture and spent long hours discussing with Berndt and the craftsmen how each piece could be produced. Could a detail be simplified without losing its form? Often, the answer was No. Elsa knew exactly how the furniture should look.
The materials were as important as the form. Wood and fabrics were chosen with great care, and only the finest suppliers were selected for Fri Form. That philosophy lives on today, just as natural as the design language itself, where quality remains at heart, even decades later.
THE LEGACY CONTINUES
Since the 1990s, the company has remained in the Gustafsson family, and today led by Gustaf Gustafsson with the intention of preserving and evolving Elsa´s iconic design language. The care in material selection and the commitment to the finest suppliers live on, as naturally as the design itself and he quality it embodies. In a changing world, Fri Form endures, continuing to build on what lasts.