A reflection on blue

For us, living in Stockholm on fourteen islands between the lake and the sea, blue is woven into our daily rhythm, and each spring, our designers return to it for a reset: a first shift of temperament and a cyclical flow of new inspiration.

From navy and ultramarine to celestial and indigo, every shade of blue is weighted with meaning — peace, spirituality, clarity, depth, and coolness — together forming a spectrum that holds a special place in our soul and sentiment.

Blue is abundance and rarity. It is the sky and the sea, vastness and the open horizon. But take a closer look and you’ll notice how little blue actually exists in nature.

There are almost no blue fruits, barely any flowers with true blue pigment, beyond those we’ve imagined and created ourselves, and naming five blue animals is a challenge. (In fact, many of the things we actually do perceive as blue are even optical illusions, caused by light reflections and other physical phenomena.)

For much of human history, there wasn’t even a word for it. In ancient Greek texts, blue is never mentioned. In English, it was one of the last colours to receive a name. It’s the kind of thing you don’t notice until someone points it out — like how a child won’t call the sky blue until you tell them. Before that, they might simply describe it as white or colourless.

Blue is a luxury, something magical. Its rarity makes it extraordinary. Natural blue pigments are practically non-existent; you can’t simply grind a rock or mash a plant to extract it.

For centuries, blue was an incredibly expensive pursuit. The ancient Egyptians engineered the first-ever synthetic pigment, trying to replicate the rich tones of rare blue gemstones. This desire to create and innovate, the obsession with imitating true blue, reveals our deep relationship to it.

Blue is both everyday and exceptional: a colour tied to progress, emotion, and creative expression — flowing through Renaissance masterworks and Yves Klein’s ultramarine visions, the imperfect in-between blue notes of jazz compositions, and the timeless shimmer of blue-in-green indigo denim.