The story of Swedish brand Hästens (available from Form in Malta) is a fairly unique one, beginning back in the mid-1800s, when the founder and earliest generations of the family business began crafting premium saddles and harnessing in Swedish leather. Till this day, their logo – which features a horse – is a nod to their roots.
For six generations, master craftsmen have led Hästens to where it is now – “a family company still driven by the virtues of sleep and humble pride over its craft. Each generation has played its part in shaping Hästens, overcoming challenges on the way.”
Innovation and progress
Since 1852, the brand has specialised in hand-crafting beds and mattresses using natural filling materials – horsetail hair, cushioning flax, slow-growing pine, superior wool and long-fibre cotton; the key ingredients for its uncompromising comfort.
Taking the 2000T bed model, for instance – which Hästens describes as the culmination of its “167-year quest for ideal sleep” – the process for achieving the best possible comfort continues to be refined.
“Today, we partition the horsetail hair into thinner yet more plentiful layers, with even thinner layers of cotton and wool in between. Hand-ruffling the fibres together is an art, requiring patience and dexterity in equal amounts,” the brand states.
Hästens – available locally at Form with a dedicated shop-in-shop – didn’t only innovate with its mattress composition, but also with the appearance of its products. Jack Ryde, an arts and design enthusiast who was married to Solveig – fourth-generation and financial manager at Hästens for many years – was keen to create a distinct pattern to represent the brand.
In 1978, he introduced the Hästens Blue Check at a furniture fair in Sweden – the 2000T model was the first bed to feature the iconic pattern – creating a timeless design stamp that would continue into the next century.
To celebrate Jack’s legacy – and that of Solveig, who would have both turned 100 this year – the brand has produced a limited 2,000 numbered pieces of the Jack Ryde 100 Year Anniversary Limited Edition 2000T, featuring blue saddle leather corner guards and matching leather lifting handles, an embroidered signature and bronze accents.
A fruitful collaboration
As part of its mission to promote exceptional sleep, Hästens has launched its Sleep to Perform talent programme in collaboration with celebrated tennis player and entrepreneur Maria Sharapova.
“Throughout her prolific tennis career, Sharapova understood how important it was to calibrate all aspects of performance in order to win on the court and, in partnership with Hästens, wants to ensure that emerging leaders benefit from the best possible sleep in their own pursuits of excellence,” the brand states.
This joining of forces will see a select group of talents within a range of fields provided with the opportunity and support to feel and perform their best each day to grow their future potential.
“The program is founded and built on the notion that quality sleep helps people create the life they dream of upon waking, by providing benefits to both the body as well as the soul. Maria has insightfully reflected on these important synergies herself as a dedicated Hästens customer for many years.”
The now-retired tennis player shared how her first big purchase after a tournament win was a Hästens mattress and, even though it was an investment, she describes it as one of the most important purchases of her career.
“As I focus my post-playing career on helping others achieve elite performance in their lives, I wanted to partner with Hästens to help broaden the way we think about performance with the understanding of how vital sleep is to everyone in every industry.”
Photography: Hästens
