Klaus Haapaniemi (b.1970) is an internationally recognized London-based Finnish designer. In 2010, he founded the Klaus Haapaniemi artisanal design and lifestyle brand with Mia Wallenius. Their design approach is influenced by nature, Finnish folklore and traditional decorative arts with a modern twist. Inspiration comes from a rich selection of cultural references including the worlds of art, ballet, music and storytelling. Klaus Haapaniemi’s design experience includes many major brands including Levi’s, Diesel and Dolce & Gabbana. He has been recognized as one of the most important rising stars in design by the WGSN’s trend forecast. In 2015, Klaus Haapaniemi designed the piece Cunning Little Vixen for the Finnish National Opera which inspired the Tanssi collection for Iittala. His sense of whimsy and magic is illustrated in Iittala’s classic Taika series.
The Polar Byzantine is a series of rugs based on an original poetic story written by award winning Finnish Author Rosa Liksom. Together with Klaus Haapaniemi they stage the story and the fantastical arctic world into an opera-like universe where the animals escape the transforming nature into an Ice Palace far away from the earth.
These magical pictures pull us into a dream where the strange and the surrealism meet.
Moooi Carpets carpets are made using revolutionary digital printing technology. The designs imagined by the artists are of unequaled quality and resolution.
Polar Byzantine rugs
design Klaus Haapaniemi, 2018-2019