Do these experts ever sleep?: DUX

Many of the world’s top companies launched with a single revolutionary product, before applying their successful concept to a portfolio of designs that share a core idea. Take Apple, for example, which grew from its humble beginnings as the producer of the Macintosh computer into the world’s most valuable brand by diversifying into tablets, smartphones, watches and all of the accompanying software.

For Swedish firm DUX, being the manufacturer of one of the world’s most comfortable and intelligently designed beds was a launchpad to explore new opportunities in the world of furniture. The innovative system of metal springs it uses to give its mattresses supreme flexibility and longevity is also applied to sofas and armchairs, seats for Volvo cars and for the London underground, as well as beds for the Swedish navy’s submarines. “The spring technology is what we do and we’re able to make lots of things using that,” explains the company’s Nordic CEO, Charlotte Ljung. “We try to utilise what we know about the body and translate it into furniture that makes sitting down as comfortable as lying in one of our beds.”

The trailblazing idea for the spring-based support system found inside DUX’s mattresses can be accredited to Ljung's great grandfather, Efraim, who founded the company in 1926. Following a wonderful night’s sleep in a Chicago hotel whilst travelling for business, it is claimed the former chocolate maker sliced open the mattress he slept on to find out what made it so comfortable. The metal springs he saw inspired him to develop his own highly technical solution that was a novelty at the time in northern Europe.

Many decades and several generations later, the family-run company still produces high-end beds, and has also worked with some of the world’s top designers to add chairs, tables, sofas and cabinets to its range of domestic products. In the 1960s and 1970s, DUX developed a collection of armchairs in collaboration with renowned Swedish designer, Bruno Mathsson. DUX and Mathsson worked well together due to their mutual appreciation for comfort, quality and innovation. The resulting pieces remain popular today, and laid the foundations for further explorations by the company’s in-house design team into furniture that combines bold design with expert craftsmanship.

The same entrepreneurial spirit that prompted Efraim Ljung to move away from chocolate making and into the furniture industry has also passed down through the generations, with Charlotte’s father pioneering DUX’s presence on the global stage by establishing its international network of Duxiana retail points. He also helped to increase the firm’s work in the contract sector, meaning that many of the world’s top hotels now feature DUX beds.

The latest step in DUX’s evolution was the launch at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2017 of a range of products developed in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Swedish design studio, Claesson Koivisto Rune. The collection includes a sofa with a bow-shaped backrest, a wooden-framed armchair, and a set of occasional tables and cabinets featuring a playful combination of straight and rounded edges. It’s another new direction for DUX, which wants to demonstrate its international outlook by producing bold items for the modern home that still retain a focus on comfort and quality.

Alongside the consistent innovations, DUX has continued to improve its collection of beds by applying the latest technologies and research into the science of sleep. Like Apple and many other industry leaders, the company recognises the importance of ensuring its core product evolves at the same time as it is expanding or adapting its portfolio. “Beds are still the core of our business, but we want to integrate design more and avoid the temptation to live off an old and familiar look for too long,” suggests Ljung. “We want to show how we are progressing by creating new classics that reinterpret the DUX heritage.”

© Architonic