Eilersen

Why it is renowned

Eilersen is known abroad for its upholstered sofas. After Jens Juul Eilersen's Stratos of 1979, three more of his designs were shown in quick succession at international furniture fairs, and Eilersen sofas went on sale in shops from Hilversum to Honolulu, with buyers in the United States taking to them in particular.¹ Sales worldwide are run from Skamby, and the house has its own production in Tianjin, China, since 2014.¹

In November 2025 the American design site Design Milk covered Bug, a flat-packed sofa, chair and table range designed for Eilersen by Bly Studio.² Vogue Scandinavia reported on Evolution, the exhibition with which Eilersen marked its 130th anniversary at 3DaysofDesign 2025 in its Copenhagen showroom, and wrote that its sofas have found places in homes around the world.³

Recognition

• Design Milk²2025an article on the Bug collection by Bly Studio
• Vogue Scandinavia³2025a report on its 130th anniversary exhibition at 3DaysofDesign

The story

Niels Eilersen trained as a wheelwright in the village of Stensby and in 1895, aged 22, opened his own workshop in nearby Skamby, building wheels and carriages.¹ The house says he was the first in Denmark to bend wood with steam for his wheels.⁴ His sons moved on to wooden frames for cars and buses; the factory burned down in 1934, and the firm turned to seat frames and then to furniture, first beech spindle-back chairs and rocking chairs, later the modular sofa Eilersen #4 with loose cushions.¹⁴

Eiler Eilersen's son Jens Juul Eilersen took over in the 1960s and designed the sofas the house is known for, beginning with Stratos in 1979.¹ His sons Anders and Nils moved production abroad: the last sofa was built in Skamby in 2011, and Eilersen now makes its sofas in Veľký Krtíš, Slovakia, and in Tianjin.¹ Frames are of solid pine from Scandinavia joined with spiral-grooved beech dowels, and every sofa carries the Danish Indoor Climate Label.¹ The old Skamby factory is now a 1,600 m² showroom, and a second showroom opened at Niels Hemmingsens Gade 7 in Copenhagen in 2022.¹

What to know it by

• Great Ash⁵Jens Juul EilersenModular sofa with deep down-filled cushions
• Stratos¹1979discontinuedJens Juul EilersenHis first sofa for the house
• Eilersen #4¹discontinuedHardwood modular sofa with loose cushions
• Bug⁶Bly Studio (Eva Fly, Anne Brandhøj)Flat-packed sofa, chair and table, easy to repair