Arne Jacobsen is born on February 11, 1902 in Copenhagen. His father, Johan Jacobsen, is a wholesale trader in safety pins and snap fasteners. His mother, Pouline Jacobsen, a bank clerk, paints floral motifs in her spare time. The family lived in a typical Victorian style home. As a contrast to his parents’ overly decorated taste, Arne paints his room in white.
Background & school relations
He met the Lassen brothers at Nærum Boarding School: later, Flemming Lassen was to become his partner in a series of architectural projects. Arne Jacobsen is a restless pupil, always up to pranks, with a self-deprecating humour. Already as a child, he showed an extraordinary talent for drawing and depicting nature through scrupulous studies. He wants to be painter, but his father felt that architect was a more sensible choice.
The Pleasant and the necessary trips abroad
Jacobsen’s travelling begin already in his twenties, when he went to sea to New York. Then followed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer in Germany and a series of study and drawing excursions to Italy. Jacobsen produced some of his finest watercolours during this period, capturing atmospheres and shapes accurately and carefully. From the beginning of his career, Jacobsen turned his gaze abroad, without abandoning Danish traditions.
Arne Jacobsen behind the design
Jacobsen production reflects his personality: an insistent, perfectionist modernist, to whom no detail was trivial, although the main picture was basically black/white and unambiguous. On the other hand, the nature-loving botanist and jovial family man: like him, his work is precise and warm, Danish and universal, modern and timeless.
Arne Jacobsen
Natural leather
Rustic leather
Sense leather
Vegetable-tanned, chrome-free, natural leather, no colour or protective finish. Becomes darker and patinated with use, visible natural markings.
Thickness 1.2-1.4 mm.
Vegetable-tanned, chrome-free, aniline, no protective finish, light impregnation, visible natural marks. Becomes lighter and patinated with use. Thickness 1.2-1.4 mm.
Chrome-tanned, fully grained, extraordinary soft aniline with a special waxing giving a slightly 'oily' surface. Colour variations, visible natural markings eg. Neck wrinkles. Colours: Chocolate and Concrete grey. Thickness 1.0-1.2 mm.
White leather
White is a type of leather of the finest quality oxhide and combines a natural look with the practical. The leather is semi-aniline and full grain, which means that the natural surface structure has been preserved. The leather has been treated with a light finish, making the hide more resilient and easier to look after. White is soft to the touch and offers excellent sitting comfort. The surface of the lighter colours may seem more concealed as many pigments are often used in the process. White is also more susceptible to dirt than other colours.
Elegance leather
Elegance is an exquisite type of leather of the finest quality European oxhide. It has an exclusive and natural look and is soft and pleasant to the touch. Elegance is aniline leather and is chrome tanned but then subsequently vegetable tanned, which gives the leather greater firmness. This type of leather has a natural and raw surface, allowing the leather to breathe and offers excellent sitting comfort as well as a feeling of exclusivity. The leather is full grain, which means that its natural surface structure has been preserved and all natural markings are visible. Natural markings are the hallmarks of the animal’s active life and give the piece of furniture a unique sense of character. Elegance leather varies in colour from hide to hide and acquires a beautiful, lighter patina with use and exposure to sunlight.
Classic leather
Classic is a durable and very user-friendly type of leather, giving a more uniform look on upholstered furniture. Classic is pigmented and has a strong surface finish, making the leather resilient to dirt and light exposure so that the leather maintains its looks over time. The surface has a slight grain, which means that the natural structure is visible. This gives a very pure expression, almost without visible natural markings.
Basic leather
Basic is a flexible and smooth looking type of leather and is user-friendly and economic. This type of leather is made of European hides, is pigmented and has been treated with a heavy surface finish, which makes it very durable. The surface is buffed and has a smooth look with a fine grain print. Basic is flexible, robust and easy to look after as well as being greaseproof. The leather is soft and pleasant to the touch and offers excellent sitting comfort. It has a high level of colourfastness.
price group 5
price group 4
price group 3
> price group 2
92% wool / 8% nylon – 27 available colours – 60.000 Martindale (durability)
90% wool / 10% helanca – 47 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
90% wool / 10% nylon – 28 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
58% wool / 25% viscose / other – 24 available colours – 50.000 Martindale (durability)
100% wool – 27 available colours – 45.000 Martindale (durability)
100% wool – 24 available colours – 45.000 Martindale (durability)
100% wool – 56 available colours – 45.000 Martindale (durability)
90% wool / 10% nylon – 50 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
90% wool / 10% nylon – 37 available colours – 80.000 Martindale (durability)
70% wool / 30% viscose – 58 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
85% wool / 15% polyamide – 25 available colours – 200.000 Martindale (durability)
95% wool of New Zealand / 5% polyamide – 60 available colours – 200.000 Martindale (durability)
price group 1
customize your Little Giraffe
Capture fabric – Fritz Hansen colours (pink, orange, blue)
85% wool / 15% polyamide – 200.000 Martindale (durability)
> price group 0
> Elegance leather, walnut
> Capture fabric – 85% wool, 15% polyamide
ready-made Little Giraffe
The Giraffe chair was designed in 1959 for the SAS Royal Hotel restaurant - the same hotel for which Arne Jacobsen designed the Egg, the Swan and several other famous models. The Giraffe had a high back – origin of its nickname – and a wooden base. Then Arne Jacobsen made several experiments, creating a special leather version on a pivoting star base that he offered to the hotel manager and a low-back version with a metal base, the Little Giraffe.
Although conceived in 1959, this Little Giraffe had never been put into production until Republic of Fritz Hansen decided to publish it in 2018. Versatile and comfortable, the Little Giraffe can be used daily in hotel lobbies, dining rooms or meeting rooms. Whatever the space around it, the Little Giraffe tells us the story of mid-20th century Danish design, with its design excellence and timeless style that fits perfectly with any style of environment.
Removable upholstery The Little Giraffe is available with a fixed or removable cover, allowing it to be cleaned or even changed. In both cases, the chair is upholstered without glue, using a double seam that highlights beautifully its silhouette. The seamless seat cushion offers great comfort while maintaining a look faithful to the original Giraffe. Note that leather chairs are not available in a removable version.
Warranty 5 years
