Ethical design brand Mater has launched a chair with a woven rattan seat inspired by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, and a stool featuring a seat made from recycled materials, both designed by architect Eva Harlou.

The Earth Stool and the He and She dining chairs are manufactured by the Copenhagen-based brand, and designed by Harlou, who is CEO and co-founder of interior design practice Earth Studio.

Earth Studio is a partnership between Harlou and Mater, with its offices located next to the Mater Earth Gallery, a shared concept store and showroom in Copenhagen's Nordvest district.

In addition to its sustainably focused interiors projects, Earth Studio develops furniture, lighting and products that are manufactured by Mater using working methods that support people, local craft traditions and the environment.

The philosophies that guide both brands are evident in the latest designs, which use recycled or sustainably sourced materials to create products with a distinctly Scandinavian aesthetic.

The Earth stools feature a simple frame made from bent steel-tubing that supports a seat produced from either recycled plastic-packaging waste or FSC-certified oak.

According to the manufacturer, Harlou designed the stool as a reinvention of a classic bar stool that offers users a choice between an organic or industrial look.

"The steel pipe frame is reusable, and the light yet solid stool represents timeless classic Scandinavian design created in an elegant composition that matches every indoor interior," said the company.

Harlou also developed the He and She Chairs to coincide with the 100th anniversary of influential German architect Walter Gropius founding the Bauhaus art school in Weimar.

Both chairs feature a tubular steel frame that is reminiscent of furniture designed by Bauhaus faculty members Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The flexible metal frames support seats that combine certified-oak and woven rattan. The choice of fast-growing and naturally harvested rattan for the cane surfaces enhances the chairs' sustainable credentials.

"The cane work is applied to the wooden oak frame in a proud third-generation Danish wicker workshop, thereby translating an old craft tradition into the new modern design age," Mater added.

Mater was founded in Copenhagen in 2006 by Henrik Marstrand. The brand seeks to create high-end furniture and lighting based on three key principles: design, craftsmanship and ethics.

Sustainability in design has gained significant momentum in recent years, with Mater featuring on Dezeen's recent list of eight brands tackling key issues such as climate change and plastic pollution.