Press 2010

Divine is the Orrefors tribute to the Swedish Royal Wedding 2010. Fittingly, the designer, Erika Lagerbielke also created the Parliament’s and Government’s gift to H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria and Mr Daniel Westling.

On Sunday Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, Per Westerberg and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt presented H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria and Mr. Daniel Westling with the Swedish Riksdag’s and Government’s common gift at Stockholm Palace.

Johan comes from its own operations in Switzerland and has previously worked in various leading positions within the Tetra Pak Group. Johan has an extensive and long experience from foreign markets and has been working in eight different countries on four different continents. Johan will take up his position on 1 September 2010.

Orrefors designer Erika Lagerbielke has created three new beer glasses in close cooperation with brewer Johan Spendrup and drinks expert Bengt-Göran Kronstam. The glasses are part of Orrefors’s Difference series.

Interest in different kinds of beer has increased over the years, and with this in mind Orrefors has launched three beer glasses for pale lager/pilsner, ale and dark beers such as porter. Erika, Bengt-Göran and Johan met on numerous occasions during this project to test different beers in different types of glasses in order to find the right shape of glass for enhancing each beer. The group realised early on that just one shape of glass would not be enough, so they created three.

“The design of the glass enhances the drinking experience, and the opportunity to help design optimal beer glasses has been a privilege,” says Johan Spendrup, master brewer and managing director of the brewery Gotlands Bryggeri. “This has been an extremely rewarding and exciting project. We have many common interests, such as craftsmanship, innovative thinking and a passion for our work. It will now be a real pleasure to invite my nearest and dearest to come round and drink a delicious and beautiful glass of beer.”

The Difference series of wineglasses was launched in 2002 and has become one of Orrefors’s most popular drinkware series over the years. The concept is based on the design of the glass enhancing the way we perceive the characteristics of the drink.
 
“Through my earlier work, such as Difference wineglasses, I know how much the shape of the glass influences our perception of the aroma and taste of a drink,” explains Erika Lagerbielke. “Beer has a different complexity to wine, and an exciting world opened up to me when we researched the natures of the different beers. Together with Johan and Bengt-Göran, I had the challenge of formulating a concept that safeguards the distinguishing characteristics of the different beers and designing the different glasses accordingly,” says Erika.

Images are available for download at www.orrefors.com under “Press”, or at www.spendrups.se.
For more information, please contact Caroline Ekman, Director of Communications at Spendrups by calling +46 701–827830 or Eva-Marie Hagström, Manager of Press & Information at Orrefors +46 478–34539.

Intermezzo, a successful series designed by Erika Lagerbielke, turns 25 this year. This series of glasses, with a characteristic blue drop in the stem, has become somewhat of a national symbol and embellishes many Swedish and international homes. In conjunction with the anniversary, Orrefors is launching a new, luxurious cocktail glass with the distinctive blue drop. In 2010 the glass will also be available in an anniversary edition, exclusively cut to give the glass a unique character and lustre.

Orrefors a division of Orrefors Kosta Boda, USA; a New Wave Group company, has been awarded the contract for design and production of stemware for the U.S. Department of State Embassies worldwide.

Erika Lagerbielke has designed the Linnaeus University rector’s chain, a light, playful and stylish crystal creation from Orrefors with forged silver links. The chain will be used for the very first time at the grand Linnaeus University opening when Stephen Hwang will be inaugurated.

Last night, Sweden’s strongest B2C superbrands were presented at an awards ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. First place went to Google, closely followed by IKEA, and with Orrefors finishing up in an honorable third place.

Orrefors is one of the suppliers to The Official Wedding Series.

Love is in the air at Orrefors this spring. Sweden will celebrate a grand royal wedding this summer and the incurable romantic Martti Rytkönen has been inspired by love to create a soft and warm series of bowls and vases called Valentino.