In the late 1940s, it was easy to choose a career in Gusum, Sweden. Most people went straight from school to the copper works.

But fourteen-year-old Håkan Urdell took another path - the one leading to Hansson & Nilsson, the town's newly opened upholstery shop. They made furniture by hand there, with hand-tied springs, saddle webbing, and horsehair stuffing. Håkan signed on as an apprentice and began to learn the craft he has now practised for over fifty years.

Today, Håkan Urdell is both a furniture designer and Head of Development at Fogia. He is thus one of the few designers of fine furniture who understands in detail how to make it beautiful, durable and possible to mass procude.

"Håkan is fantastic!" says Helena Allard. He has taught me more about furniture in a single year than I learned in three years at design school. With Håkan's help, she has made actual furniture out of an idea as wild as the Savann sofa.

Håkan speaks of his own teachers. "Among others, I had the opportunity to work with a master upholsterer from Riga. He had supplied furniture to the Russian czar, and was truly talented. "
As favourite designers, he speaks warmly of Arne Norell and Kerstin Horlin-Holmkvist, two talents with whom he has been privileged to work closely with and who combined a deep knowledge of upholstery with a genuine feel for design. He also mentions the renowned Danish designer Hans J Wegner, who believed that, to be a truly great furniture designer, you had to be at least a good cabinetmaker.

Håkan Urdell has designed about a dozen of the models in Fogia’s product range, and has taken part in developing most of Fogia's upholstered furniture in his roles as Head of Development and master upholsterer. As Head of Development, he also stands behind Fogia's commitment to environmentally sound furniture, working with techniques and materials both old and new.
"Natural materials are expensive" he says "but you notice the difference immediately. And in the long run, they are better - both for the environment and for the owner of the furniture"

Håkan's deep knowledge of upholstery techniques and natural materials were the foundations on which Fogia's "Dream Bed" - handmade using only the finest materials - was built a couple of years ago.

If you have been working with upholstery for over fifty years, though, don't tables, chairs and other carpentry work begin to seem attractive? "Why should they? Answers Håkan. It takes a lifetime to really learn upholstery. And I'm not done yet.