Hästens

Hästens is a Swedish luxury bedding brand and manufacturer operated by Hästens Sängar AB. The business was established in 1852 by master saddler Pehr Adolf Janson, whose trade included producing mattress pads containing horsetail hair, a material associated with saddlery and carriage manufacture. This original connection between saddlery and bedding became central to the company’s later identity. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Janson family expanded beyond saddles. After the family moved to Hed, Per Thure Janson continued the saddler tradition and formed a business with his son David Janson. Demand for beds increased, and the company gradually produced more beds than saddles. David Janson is associated with the decisive shift toward bed manufacturing that shaped the modern company. Hästens positions its products around handcrafted Swedish production, natural materials and premium construction. Its beds and mattresses use combinations of cotton, horsehair, wool and flax. The company states that all of its beds continue to be manufactured in Sweden, at its factory in Köping. In addition to beds and mattresses, its retail stores offer bed linen, pillows, duvets and related lifestyle accessories. The brand has cultivated a distinctive visual identity. In 1978, designer Jack Ryde created Hästens’ blue check pattern for a furniture trade fair. The pattern subsequently became a registered trademark associated with Hästens beds and has been defended against imitation in multiple countries. This check design, together with the use of natural fillings and Swedish manufacturing, supports the brand’s premium and heritage-oriented positioning. Hästens also has a long connection with Sweden’s royal court. In 1952, one hundred years after its establishment, it became a purveyor to the Swedish royal court. The designation is shared with IKEA, which received the corresponding status in 1984. The company has received recognition for export growth, design and international development, including a Swedish Trade Council Export Award and an Ernst & Young international growth award in 2006, a Wallpaper* Design Award in 2010, the Palme d’Or de la Literie de Prestige in 2011, the Swedish Signum Prize in 2013 and a Hurun Report award in 2015. Hästens sells through a global network of retail locations and brand stores, including locations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia. Its business remains family-owned and centered on high-end beds, mattresses and bedroom products rather than mass-market furniture. A 2000 Swedish advertising ruling required the company to stop using certain unsupported superlative and manufacturing claims, while the brand has separately pursued legal action against alleged copying of its check pattern. Hästens remains an active Swedish luxury bedding brand with a heritage-based proposition built on craftsmanship, natural materials, royal-court association and recognizable design.

Hästens dates its origins to 1852 and describes its business as a Swedish craft tradition maintained through six generations. The brand’s historical identity is closely tied to bed making rather than to a broad household-goods portfolio. From the available material, the company’s enduring proposition has been the manufacture of beds and mattresses with a strong emphasis on manual production and selected natural materials. The company’s contemporary identity is built around Swedish manufacture and the preservation of traditional construction methods. Hästens states that its beds are handmade in Sweden and use horsehair, cotton, wool, and flax. This material palette differentiates the brand from mattress businesses whose public positioning is primarily based on synthetic foams, compressed delivery, or digital sleep technology. Hästens instead presents the bed as a crafted product whose performance and character arise from layered natural materials, skilled assembly, and careful finishing. Over time, the brand has developed from a specialist bed maker into an international luxury sleep brand. Its product scope includes mattresses, complete beds, and bedding, enabling it to serve customers seeking a coordinated premium sleep environment. The company’s global-facing commercial presence supports sales beyond Sweden, although the supplied sources do not provide a reliable country-by-country market list or a detailed account of its international expansion. Heritage remains central to Hästens’s differentiation. The 1852 founding date and six-generation narrative provide the basis for communicating continuity, accumulated craft knowledge, and Swedish origin. The brand’s luxury positioning is reinforced by its focus on handmade production and natural materials rather than by publicly documented mass-market scale. The supplied references do not establish the identities of the founder or current executives, ownership arrangements, financial results, public listing status, specific product launch dates, or major corporate transactions. Those details should be verified from additional authoritative sources before being added to the encyclopedia.

1. 1852Hästens traces its origin to 1852

   The brand identifies 1852 as the beginning of its Swedish bed-making tradition.

   Source

Luxury Swedish handcrafted beds and mattresses

• Hästens mattressesMattresses

  Hästens mattresses are positioned as luxury, handcrafted sleep products made in Sweden. The brand highlights natural materials such as horsehair, cotton, wool, and flax, presenting mattress construction and material selection as central parts of the sleeping experience. The range forms the core of Hästens’s specialist offering and supports its distinction from mainstream mattress brands.

• Hästens bedsBeds

  Hästens beds extend the brand’s handcrafted mattress proposition into complete bed systems and luxury bedroom furnishings. They are presented as handmade in Sweden and built around the same natural-material and traditional-craft principles used in the company’s mattress products. The bed category also gives Hästens a broader role in furnishing a premium sleep environment rather than selling only a standalone mattress.

• Hästens beddingBedding

  Hästens bedding complements its beds and mattresses within a broader luxury sleep assortment. The supplied material identifies bedding as part of the brand’s product scope, but does not provide a reliable catalogue of individual bedding products or their launch dates. It is therefore best understood as a supporting category within the overall Hästens sleep offering.

• 2011Hästens blue check pattern protected against copying

  The company continued legal efforts in several countries against alleged infringements and counterfeits of its distinctive blue check pattern.

  Lawsuit
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• 2006Hästens receives Swedish export and international-growth recognition

  Hästens received a Swedish Trade Council Export Award and was recognized by Ernst & Young as a leading international growth company.

  Other
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• 2000Swedish court restricts certain Hästens advertising claims

  A Swedish court ruled that Hästens could not use particular claims including a superlative description of its beds and a statement attributing a warranty to its own manufacturing process. The ruling reportedly considered, among other issues, that the relevant springs and frames were produced by a subcontractor.

  LawsuitRegulation
  Source

1. Handcrafted beds and bedding since 1852 | Hästens
2. 海丝腾蓝格图案受到保护，防止抄袭