France & Son Moduline Brown Leather Sofa by Gjerlov-Knudsen

Known for their clean and simple Scandinavian modern pieces, Ole Gjerløv-Knudsen and Torben Lind were immensely influential in promoting Danish mid-century modern design across Europe and around the world during the 1960s and 1970s.

Danish furniture designer Ole Gjerløv-Knudsen (1930–2009) graduated from the School of Crafts in 1952 and studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen until 1955. He later met Danish furniture designer Torben Lind (1928–2016), and beginning in 1962 the pair collaborated on creating designs for Danish furniture manufacturer PP Møbler.

During the 1960s, Gjerløv-Knudsen and Lind established a reputation for their designs that were not only functional and eye-pleasing, but also comfortable and durable. Using high-quality materials such as beech, teak, fine leather and plywood, Gjerløv-Knudsen and Lind’s sofas, lounge chairs, side tables, coffee tables and living room sets are light, precise and beautifully minimalist.

Throughout their long collaboration, Gjerløv-Knudsen and Lind designed furniture for several Danish and Scandinavian manufacturers, including Mogens Kold Møbelfabrik and France and Søn. Among their most popular designs was the Moduline Slipper chair for France and Søn, which featured an oak frame, leather upholstery and modular body that could be adjusted into a settee. Gjerløv-Knudsen and Lind also designed the iconic Skopa chair for IKEA in the early 1970s. 

Today, Gjerløv-Knudsen and Lind’s designs are highly desirable among architects, interior designers and collectors of classic Scandinavian modern furniture.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Ole Gjerløv-Knudsen and Torben Lind seating and tables.

Danish manufacturer France & Søn is best known for its prolific output of elegant mid-century modern furnishings in teak and leather, yet its multinational beginnings took shape during the 1930s.

After businessman Charles William Fearnley France (1897–1972) moved from his native England to Denmark in 1936, he began to operate a small mattress factory alongside his friend Eric Daverkosen, a Danish cabinetmaker, under the name France & Daverkosen. Shortly afterward, Daverkosen passed away, and when Denmark was invaded during the Second World War, Charles was captured and sent to a prison camp in Germany. When he was released, the British entrepreneur set out to produce furniture in the early 1950s, setting up a shop in Hillerød to manufacture the kind of sleek beech and teak goods that were gaining widespread acclaim around the world. In 1957, France’s son James joined the business, and the company changed its name to reflect the addition.

Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, France & Søn produced a stunning array — and staggering quantity — of designs, with elegant modernist lounge chairs and armchairs, teak and rosewood dining tables and other furnishings by the likes of Finn Juhl, Grete Valk, Ole Wanscher, Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen all gracing its catalogues.

Even as there was a focus on mass production at France & Søn — and the brand doesn’t quite enjoy the same renown as fellow mid-century Danish furniture makers such as Carl Hansen & Søn — Charles France believed in making quality furniture, and the company’s offerings evoke the warmth of the handcrafted work that is typically associated with Scandinavian modernism.

In the 1960s, the company was bought by Danish designer Poul Cadovius, who folded it into the operations at CADO, a company he founded during the 1950s. Surviving examples of early work from the brand as well as modern icons by the likes of Verner Panton that followed in later years continue to be in demand.

Find a collection of France & Søn furniture on 1stDibs.