Interview with Sybilla Hansl, Diete Hansl-Röntgen and Alice Pieper

The design team at Nya Nordiska comprises three women who complement one another perfectly: Diete Hansl-Röntgen, management; Sybilla Hansl, member of the management; and Alice Pieper, head of product development. Together they designed the “Katsu” decorative fabric, which was unanimously selected by the jury of this year’s “red dot award: product design” as one of the best products submitted to the award competition. In an interview with red dot, the Nya Nordiska design team talked about themselves and their design philosophy.

The design team at Nya Nordiska consists of three women. How did you get together and what are your individual fields of expertise within the team?
Diete Hansl-Röntgen: I took over the company Nya Nordiska as a draper in 1974. In subsequent years I expanded the company into an international textile house together with my husband, the company founder Heinz Röntgen. As both his wife and a staff member, I developed the distinctive signature of all Nya Nordiska collections over a period of 30 years, always following the maxim of “clear language of form and highest quality standards.” Since my husband passed away in 2003, I have continued his design philosophy. My responsibilities include the expansion and market representation of the entire Nya Nordiska collection, including the coordination of the Pure Perfection, Creative Concept, and Luxury Life lines.

Sybilla Hansl: After holding several positions in the Carven haute couture studio in Paris and in the Knoop studio in Hanover, I studied textile technology in Mönchengladbach. After graduating, I returned to work in our family business, where, since 1992, I have been responsible for the technical realisation and finish of the Nya Nordiska designs, the coordination with production facilities, the supervision of the choice of materials and their cleaning characteristics, and I am the person in charge of the final quality control.

Alice Pieper: I studied textile design at the FH Hanover, University of Applied Sciences. After receiving my degree, I started my professional career at the Loeser furnishing house in Hanover. Then followed several years of positions at Vorwerk Textilien in Hanover and Wuppertal, WK in Stuttgart, Taunus Textildruck Oberursel/Frankfurt a. M., and Sahco Hesslein in Nuremberg. Since 2004, I have been head of product development at Nya Nordiska. My main responsibility is the creative design of all Nya Nordiska collection lines, coordination with freelance designers as well as overall colour creation.

What makes the “Katsu” decorative fabric so special?
Nya Nordiska: Its reduced language of form and elaborate weaving technique.

Katsu actually reveals its fascinating appeal only at second glance. Are decorative fabrics moving towards a new kind of purism?
Nya Nordiska: Yes, although our collections have always been marked by purism in the sense that we follow the design principle of reduced language of form.

What factors are important when you create a new fabric?
Nya Nordiska: Timeless design, high quality, good cleaning characteristics, and durability.

To what extent are your collections influenced by other fields
related to design?
Nya Nordiska: We draw inspiration from trends in architecture and space design, fashion and painting.

What design philosophy does the Nya Nordiska design team
follow?
Nya Nordiska: Clarity through reduction is the design principle of all Nya Nordiska collections. Reduction leads to the core of things, to the essential. Maintaining a sense for the essential determines our actions – both in design and in life.