Laerke Ryom creates furniture "tailored like garments" for Raiments exhibition

Upholstered furniture with black background

Danish designer Laerke Ryom has unveiled Raiments, a series of furniture shown at Copenhagen's Innenkreis gallery that aims to move away from traditional upholstery.

The exhibition, which opened yesterday at the new Innenkreis gallery in central Copenhagen, was named after an old English word for clothes.

Fabric furniture against a black background — The Raiments collection explores new ways of thinking about upholstery

"Raiments means garments from medieval English, originating from French," Ryom explained.

"The word carries a sense of adornment, intention and presentation, not just utility. I also chose the name to reference a time when there was space to dwell more deeply in craft."

Furniture in white room — It is shown at Innenkreis gallery next to older pieces

Ryom enjoys exploring how textiles relate to furniture, as she thinks they have a "sensibility and inherent life that adds a lot to the finished pieces".

The Raiments exhibition shows pieces including a daybed, floor and wall lamps, chairs and a bench, in soothing cream and chocolate-brown hues.

The daybed, bench, table lamp and floor lamp are made from powder-coated steel, while the base of the wall lamps was constructed from stainless steel and the chair from aluminium.

Room with upholstered furniture — A chair, bench and different lamps feature in the collection. Photo by Robert Damisch

Ryom used wool from textile brand Kvadrat that doesn't have visible weaving, leaving room for the stitching that she applies when quilting.

"For the edges, I chose an edge band that has this really beautiful twill weave," the designer said.

"Twill weave is a traditional textile weaving technique that is commonly used in both clothing and home textiles and the edgeband places the upholstery pieces somewhere in between, adding to the feeling of a tailored piece rather than upholstery."

Ryom aimed to create upholstery that would be more similar to clothing.

"Rather than traditional upholstery that relies on tension and force, stretching and stapling textiles into rigid forms, the pieces are tailored like garments that sit comfortably on the structure, allowing the material's natural drape and character to remain visible," she explained.

Detail of stitching on bench — Designer Laerke Ryom decorated the fabric with edge bands and stitching

For the Raiments exhibition, her pieces were contrasted with historic designs, including a lamp by architect Gio Ponti and nesting tables by designer Josef Hoffmann.

According to Innenkreis founder Zeynep Rekkali Jensen, the gallery believes that contrasting the new designs with older pieces highlights the quality of both.

Lamp and chair made from fabric — The furniture pieces have metal bases covered in fabric

"At Innenkreis, we value design as thinking through poetry in material and making," she said.

"Here, the line between former and current fades. Showing Lærke's pieces alongside older works highlights qualities like finesse in production, sensitivity to use, and tactility over time. This pairing creates a dialogue and advances the story."

Ryom is the co-founder of Danish design platform Ukurant, which has shown exhibitions in a former woodworking factory and a former Copenhagen library.

The photography is by Line Klein unless stated otherwise. Main image by Robert Damisch.

Raiments is on show at Innenkreis, Herluf Trolles Gade 28, Copenhagen from 19 March to 23 May. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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