Erik Wørts

Erik Wørts got started apprenticing in the family business, Wørts Møbelsnedkeri, run by his father, Henrik. After completing his studies at the Danish School of Crafts in 1937, he started designing furniture in his father’s workshop. Several of their pieces were shown at the prestigious annual Cabinetmakers’ Exhibitions in Denmark.

In 1944, Erik Wørts moved to Sweden to work for the luxury department store Nordiska Kompaniet (NK), whose ‘Triva’ series was the first flatpack furniture sold in Sweden. One of Erik’s coworkers at NK was designer Bengt Ruda, who later left to work at IKEA.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Erik Wørts started designing for many well-known Danish furniture makers. This included a self-assembled safari chair for the Eilersen company. In 1958, he was contacted by IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who was especially interested in Erik’s flatpack expertise. Starting in the 1960s, his sleek sideboards and stylish chairs, tables and sofas went down well both with customers and Ingvar. He said of Erik: “He is tremendously knowledgeable about furniture culture and tradition, and he has an ability to gently adapt these aspects to modern needs.”

IKEA launched the POP 68 collection by Erik Wørts in the 1968 catalogue. It was described as an explosion of colours for “the beat generation,” suited for people who enjoyed having fun and “being uppity”. To make POP 68 more affordable, Erik used chipboard lacquered in bright colours. Many pieces also had wheels, fitting a young and flexible lifestyle.

Not far behind came Erik Wørts’s simple but stylish LENA chair – introduced as “a smash hit!” Erik had been inspired to make the chair while visiting a Polish factory. There, he saw how round beech rods were steamed in hot furnaces, bent by hand and assembled into chairs. Erik Wørts’s version was LENA, originally made in white, dark blue and beech.

Over more than three decades, Erik Wørts designed numerous pieces for IKEA in various shapes and styles – simple chairs, comfy sofas, and tables in various colours and finishes. Each was rooted in his core craftsmanship, evident in everything from basic pine pieces to the bright red safari chair RALLY, launched in 1971. During the 1980s and ’90s, his classic designs, firmly anchored in Scandinavian style, continued to appeal.

Erik Wørts passed away in 1997 at the age of 80, but his legacy lives on. In 2024, his 1960s POP 68 table made a comeback as GARNANÄS in the Nytillverkad collection. In 2025, his 1962 NOVETT benches were reintroduced as GUTTANE side and coffee tables – both elegant and functional, featuring a distinctive ledge to prevent items from rolling off. Classic Erik Wørts – always in tune with the times and often ahead.