Danish design company Skagerak has partnered with design duo Included Middle on an outdoor furniture collection called Gerda, inspired by traditional red and white tablecloths.
The collection includes a bench, a stool, and a table that comes in two sizes. Each of the pieces are produced in powder-coated aluminium, and come in two colourways, cream and olive, or burgundy and blue.
The surface or seat of each item of furniture has holes perforated in the aluminium, a design that draws on the red and white checked tablecloths found in bistro-style eateries.
Gerda is the latest collaboration between the Danish brand and furniture and textile designers, Chris L Halstrøm and Margrethe Odgaard, who work together as Included Middle.
"The designers' two different skill sets as furniture and textile designers gave rise to a third dimension – a new common playground where form, function, colour and pattern support each other and create a new language," said Skagerak.
The collection takes its name from the Danish weaving pioneer Gerda Henning, who designed textiles for icons such as Kaare Klint and Børge Mogensen.
The brand also cited the typical atmosphere of Nordic campsites as another influence in putting together the collection.
Skagerak and Included Middle have committed to a ten year partnership, producing one collection together each year, of which Gerda is the latest. During this time, the designers have agreed not to work with any other Danish brands.
"Skagerak is a company that has worked with quality for more than 40 years, both when it comes to design, production and to relations with people and the environment," said Included Middle.
"In our partnership we wish to explore those values by developing products and events that explore the Nordic as a concept; the craft and the original style and how they affect the consumer in a positive way."
Skagerak is based in Aalborg, a harbour city in the north of Denmark, that sits on the Skagerrak strait between Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The company was established in 1976 and has remained in the same family ever since.
It recently collaborated with Danish architecture practice BIG on the Lily collection of wooden furniture that is suitable for both indoors and the outside, and has no sharp corners.