Mats Christéen’s path to founding his furniture collection has been as inevitable as it has been unconventional and indirect.
Raised in a culture where skillfully wielding a hammer was as likely as playing with Legos, Mats’ fondest early memories include laboring alongside his father building houses as well as the furniture to fill them. Scouring vintage stores and estate sales, Mats spent his youth rescuing and reimagining discarded treasures into objects unrecognizably fresh and new.
As expected of many Swedes, Mats also began to skate shortly after learning to walk. Promptly distinguishing himself at the hockey rink as a talent to watch, he was propelled into a professional hockey career at only 17, and was soon drafted by the National Hockey League (NHL).
The attention brought the notice of fashion scouts, and Mats found himself juggling the unlikely amalgamation of a successful high-fashion modeling career alongside the demands of professional hockey. The two worlds collided
when a puck to the mouth knocked out his two front teeth the day before a coveted campaign photo shoot.
While most can only dream of such high profile pursuits, Mats happily relinquished them for the inescapable return to his first and primary passion, design.