I’m attracted to the beauty of immediacy and functionality. I try to rethink how Scandinavian craftsmanship can translate in a world of a rising competition.

Entrepreneur, freelance interior architect and, currently, renovator of apartments … oh, and one of Denmark’s most promising furniture design talents, according to the experts in the field. That pretty much sums up the intriguing professional life of Anita Johansen.

At only 30 years of age, the recent graduate is already making a name for herself in the highly respected and competitive world of Scandinavian furniture design.

She’s just bought an apartment in the Danish capital with her husband and two children. The first thing that catches your eye in the well-lit Copenhagen loft is her fixed-gear bike. Placed in the dining area of the kitchen, it disrupts the sterile Scandinavian interior in a silent and gentle way.

“It’s my loyal companion,” she laughs. “I bike everywhere. I feel free and that’s what’s important,” she says matter-of-factly.

For Anita designing isn’t about prestige, it´s about passion and curiosity. She feels, is a huge privilege to design, and she thinks the greatest honor you can achieve is when your design is put to use.

“I’m attracted to the beauty of immediacy and functionality. I try to rethink how Scandinavian craftsmanship can translate in a world of a rising competition – especially when it comes to price.” She elaborates, “How can we still create solid, elegant design based on craftsmanship and at the same time compete with mass production in a globalised world, where things can always be – and usually are – made cheaper? That’s always my starting point.”

The first creation made from this contemplation was a daybed Anita crafted as part her diploma work for The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts – The School of Design. The daybed caught the eye of the Scandinavian fashion crowd; now investors from the Far East have also begun to show interest.

Still, this newfound fame has not altered Anita’s humble disposition in the slightest. “I’m not into all the glitz and glory. I would love if my designs could stand by themselves and I could stay out of the spotlight,” she smiles.