Within Copenhagen's Charlottenborg Palace, Tekla embraces the Rococo revival with a new collection of frills and femininity
“At Tekla, everything starts with bedding,” says Kristoffer Juhl, the Danish homeware and textile brand’s co-founder. “This is how you start and end your day.” It’s an essential part of the overall Tekla philosophy too: “Simple, refined, and made to elevate everyday experiences.”
We’re starting our morning in the Charlottenborg Palace in Copenhagen’s bustling center, a grand mansion that Tekla has taken over for its 'Modern Romance' exhibition during the ever-growing 3 Days of Design. The air is thick and warm outside, a tumultuous intersection of bikes and cabs and design aficionados tearing across the streets to the next presentation. But inside Charlottenborg, there is a sense of calm and serenity. The space has been set up in collaboration with Mentze Ottenstein, a Copenhagen-based architectural studio, with ethereal music by Danish composer, violist, and singer Astrid Sonne. Beds and loungers – handcrafted in beautiful walnut by artisanal carpenters from generations of woodworkers in Georgia – have been made up with Tekla’s just-launched Broderie Anglaise collection. Since its launch in 2017, the brand has expanded into sleepwear, bathroom sets, and kitchen linens. And while you’ll know Tekla for its poplin sets and crisp percale sheets that somehow always maintain that freshly washed feeling – often cast in pastel tones and earthy stripes – Broderie Anglaise is both a return to its bedding roots, and a progression into more romantic, delicately detailed styles.
Tekla’s Broderie Anglaise collection. Photo: Courtesy of Tekla
It’s also in step with broader interiors and sartorial sensibilities that are leaning frilly and feminine. Look to Laila Gohar’s Mediterranean port-inspired collection for Gohar World, which debuted at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan: All big-bowed dinner napkins, pearl-weighted lace doily coasters, and bottles ensconced in Battenberg lace aprons. The recent Rococo revival, while looking to a more opulent and colourful era, has also seen ruching and ruffled details experiencing a renaissance. And inn fashion, and as we slide into summer, Chloé-esque bloomers, the vintage-inspired Dôen girl, and classic J.Crew, airy embroidered shirts abound. Broderie anglaise is so back.
The collection began as something of a research project for Tekla – an exploration into a craft that is at once deeply historical and incredibly varied. Despite the name – which translates to “English embroidery”—the practice originated in 16th century Eastern Europe. When it arrived in 19th century England and was named by French traders, Broderie Anglaise became a go-to for household linens, women’s clothing, sleepwear, and children’s clothes, appreciated for its practicality as well as its elegant detail. “The process revealed a wide universe of techniques, each rooted in a tradition of care, time, and attention, adding a sense of nostalgia into every piece,” Juhl explains. The Modern Romance exhibition included some testers and development pieces – which also hints at future expansion for Tekla.
“The Broderie Anglaise collection marks a new chapter in this journey,” says Juhl. “While it stays rooted in the Tekla philosophy, it explores a more decorative expression.” The collection, inspired by heirloom bed linens and heritage fabrics, follows the brand’s sweet and nostalgic Christmas campaign 'The Patchwork Bear', which took inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen stories like The Princess and the Pea. That emotive storytelling continues which Broderie Anglaise, which features embroidered duvet covers, pillow shams, and decorative cushions with hand-tied closures and in multiple articulations of the Broderie Anglaise style; cut-out, layered eyelet patterns sit beside soft ruffles, ruching, and scalloped, floral, and geometric edges. Designed in Copenhagen and produced in Portugal, it is made with organic cotton, and lightly stonewashed to make it crisp and soft. “We’ve introduced a visual language that feels more romantic, even expressive – yet still unmistakably Tekla,” says Juhl. “This evolution reflects a natural progression for us, one that honors where we’ve come from, while making space for new interpretation and expanding on the home universe.”
As a brand founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark has always been central to Tekla’s identity. “From the very beginning, the local community has played a key role in shaping the brand’s journey, and our participation in 3DaysofDesign serves as a natural extension of that relationship,” says Juhl, “an opportunity to celebrate our Danish origin, alongside celebrating Copenhagen as a city with a global audience.”
Photo: Courtesy of Tekla
“We have been truly humbled by the response to the exhibition and collection so far,” he adds. “We hope this is something that was both somewhat unexpected, yet true to who Tekla is.” We end our time in Copenhagen with Tekla over dinner in the Charlottenborg space with a menu curated by Frederik Bille Brahe, Copenhagen’s celebrated chef and founder of Atelier September and Apollo Bar (the art scene hangout which sits just around the corner), someone at the forefront of transforming the Danish culinary scene on a global stage. (His sister Sophie Bille Brahe, the Danish fine jewelry designer, is also exhibiting close by). We’re fed Apollo Bar highlights like a salad rosso, a globe of radicchio segmented with chunks of blood orange, a blooming artichoke, and seasonal strawberry ice-cream cake. Tables are dotted with precious little broderie anglaise pot pourri bags, and Sonne’s siren-esque soundscape plays through the evening.
Looking ahead, Tekla has plenty of exciting projects in the works, with a focus on expanding physical locations in London and various U.S. cities. But for now, Juhl is delighted to see buyers already shopping the Broderie Anglaise collection—both adding full sets to their carts, and mixing and matching the new collection with Tekla’s staple solid colors and stripes. “It is exciting to see how communities worldwide embrace certain aspects of our collections,” says Juhl, “and we are looking forward to sharing more very soon.”
Related: First look: Louis Poulsen unveils Henrik Vibskov’s ‘Circle Dome Square’ at 3DaysofDesign
Originally published on Vogue.com