HAY Brand Book

OUR VISION

In 2002, HAY was established as a new kind of design company in Denmark. Motivated by the certainty that good design is everyone’s right, HAY set out to innovate new ways to answer the ever-evolving needs of the modern world — but at a more accessible price point than industry standards.

Co-founders and Creative Directors Mette and Rolf Hay committed to working with their generation’s best designers from all over the world to create high-quality products that would be available to a wide audience. This founding principle has always been HAY’s DNA, and it remains at the core of the company’s culture today.

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WHAT WE DO

HAY is motivated and inspired by the realities of life today, in which traditional divides between personal and professional space have become more fluid.

To satisfy those conditions, our products span the realms of furniture, lighting, and accessories, and they are always flexible and adaptable, versatile and varied. That means they can be used in any environment and suit any need, from a living room to an office, hotel lounge, or cafe.

In keeping with that spirit, HAY embraces the beauty of quotidian life by creating fresh takes on a wide range of products that are part of our everyday, from a toothbrush to a paper bin to a sofa. No object is too common, no detail too minute: HAY pays attention to the small moments that make up our lives.

HOW WE WORK

Every HAY product is developed in close collaboration between HAY’s Creative Directors Mette and Rolf Hay, their in-house designers and product-development teams in the Copenhagen office, and a loyal roster of contemporary designers based all around the world.

We insist on creating products that are relevant, original, and, perhaps most of all, needed, so we care a lot about the idea and the vision behind everything we make. We believe that a clear starting point for every object — whether that be a new technology, a new material, or simply our feeling that this item is missing from the world — leads to a more fluid development process and a better, long-lasting end product.

“At HAY we do furniture and design for many different environments. At home, public spaces, professional spaces, and all the spaces in between. But I would still say that we have never done design for a specific market. We have always tried to focus on the people who were going to use the products, and we have always tried to design products for the life they live.”

“I have always been extremely fascinated by everyday objects. I love working on products that we have in our hand everyday. For me, everyday life is my biggest inspiration.” — Mette Hay

At HAY, we work with the world’s leading designers in a sustainable and democratic context that draws from three primary sources of inspiration: art, architecture, and fashion. We have always paid close attention to and been inspired by our surroundings, and putting our finger on the pulse of contemporary culture is how we keep pace with the world around us.

“What I admire about art is the unexpected, the originality; architecture is of course the context and the home of what we make, and fashion has a wonderful dynamism to it, reflecting the spirit of the time and what’s happening right now. I would say that the best products we have done, they may exist somewhere in between these three environments, drawing from a little bit of everything.” — Rolf Hay

Even as we have expanded to inhabit multiple continents and to include ever-more design categories, four essential values at the core of HAY continue to shape and motivate the company today:

PASSION FUNCTION COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY

From Furniture to Accessories and Lighting, HAY’s in-house product development teams, our international designers, and of course our founding visionaries Mette and Rolf Hay eternally strive to maintain these values. No matter what product you are interested in, from a HAY pillow to a HAY dining table, HAY customers can feel confident that each of these values is behind every single one.

PASSION

At HAY, we are motivated by a love of design and a commitment to constant innovation. We are always challenging ourselves to create products that elevate the modest moments in peoples’ lives. This means thinking about everyday items in new, original ways, using the most cutting-edge materials, methods, tools, and technologies available.

FUNCTION

At HAY, form will always follow function. Our products are beautiful, sleek, fresh, and stylish — but we believe that use and comfort should come first. Our designs always prioritize what is essential: we believe the simplest solution is usually the best solution.

COMMUNITY

HAY is an international company: HAY design crosses borders. From our designers to our suppliers to our in-house product-development teams, collaboration is fundamental to HAY. We believe we are stronger for our partnerships: the synergy achieved by numerous minds, skill sets, tools, and hands working in harmony is what drives and motivates us every day.

RESPONSIBILITY

High-quality means thoughtfully designed, well crafted, and built to last. At HAY, we strive to minimize our footstep on the planet while making durable products that we hope will live with you for a long time. We always hold ourselves to high standards, so each of our product categories has its own team of designers, technicians, and engineers who ensure that every product has been considered from every angle, and has withstood quality-control checks on all fronts.

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At HAY, we work to design and produce long-lasting, functional products that people want to live with for many years. Our commitment to reduce our environmental footprint also includes using resources in a sustainable way, so we strive to utilize the most efficient and environmentally conscious methods, tools, and materials available.

We recognise that our actions have a significant environmental impact, and we therefore take our responsibility to contributing to a greener future seriously. We aim to be climate positive in everything that we do, with focus on the three areas below:

OUR PEOPLE

Since its inception, HAY has been a collaborative project shaped by extremely passionate people with shared values and a shared goal. The heart of the company has always been the people who work here.

Today, HAY remains a brand that prioritizes partnership and community. From the contemporary designers we work with, based all over the world, to the in-house product development and design teams in Copenhagen, whose commitment and vision contribute to every object we make, we believe in the power of working together.

There is so much to the design of how we work and live, and there are many stories to tell. Partnerships fortify each other: collaboration is how we stay relevant.

OUR DESIGNERS

At HAY, we believe that we are constantly working with the most talented, curious, and courageous designers from around the world, and every one of them is a member of the HAY family.

“A good project, an industrial project, is a collective thing. Of course we are part of it, and HAY needs us, but we need them too. So it’s really about the team: Rolf and Mette Hay are here, but around them there is a very tight team of extremely dedicated people, which is super strong.”

can feel that HAY started as a personal project… Today it’s still like that. It’s one of the most amazing brands, and yet when you’re working with them it feels like a small brand. Projects start as something personal, you can still feel that.”

— Ana Kraš

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OUR PARTNERSHIPS

AND COLLABORATIONS

At HAY, we have forged partnerships with some of the world’s most innovative companies because we always strive to push the envelope of design, reaching beyond the borders of our own field and trying new things. Every collaboration is different, and each one is unique, but what connects them is that they all exist in the shared space between our foundational sources of inspiration: art, architecture, and fashion.

For us, working in collaboration with other companies that share our values is a powerful way to generate inspiration. Through dialogues with brands whose experience and expertise covers different ground, we seek to gain new perspectives and ideas that challenge what we think we know or the world as we see it.

SUICOKE

Suicoke fashion collaborations, 2020 & 2021

HAY launched a new limited-edition range of the “DEPA 2.0” sandals in April 2021, created in collaboration with iconic Japanese shoe brand Suicoke. The four new color-blocked versions curated by Mette Hay followed the great success of the first edition launched in May 2020 and were available for purchase at selected retail locations across the world.

SONOS

Limited edition SONOS ONE, 2018

Exploring the relationship between sound and home design, Sonos and HAY came together to reimagine the Sonos One portable speaker, which is usually designed in black and white only, in five colors specially selected by HAY. This limited-edition line was launched in the Palazzo Clerici during HAY’s exhibition there for Milan Design Week 2018, and was sold through both brands’ channels for a limited time.

IKEA

Ypperlig, 2017

Released in 2017, Ypperlig was born when IKEA asked HAY to specially design a line of furniture and home-ware products for the IKEA Collection. To develop the line, HAY and IKEA spent years working together in development, and both teams felt inspired and learned from each other. The Ypperlig Collection was launched in IKEA stores in 2017.

CHART ART FAIR

Limited edition embroidered sofas, 2021 & 2022

In 2021 and 2022 HAY launched in collaboration with CHART ‘The Aftermath of a Garden Party’ and ‘An Attempt to Refine the Backyard’, respectively: a limited-edition of Mags Sofas that featured hand-embroidered embellishments in Icelandic artist Loji Höskuldsson’s signature poetic style. In 2022, 50 made-to-order reproductions of the artist’s take on the Mags Soft Sofa were available for purchase for a short period.

HERMAN MILLER

A first-of-its kind collaboration that celebrates Eames classics, reimagined in a fresh palette that’s uniquely HAY. Lifelong admirers of modern design, Herman Miller, and Charles and Ray Eames, HAY Co-Founders and Creative Directors Rolf and Mette Hay conceived a fresh and playful take on Herman Miller classics that presents a unique vision of colour: seven new colourways meant for endless interplay and combination.

The collection is available via HAY in North America, and via Herman Miller in North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa.

HAY’S WORLD: A LIVING HISTORY

HAY began in 2002 as a furniture company with only a few products in the range. In the years since, we have expanded into new categories, incorporating Lighting, Accessories, and Textiles into our offerings.

After a productive beginning within the European market, we reached out to the Asian market and acquired new opportunities for growth.

2018 marked the newest chapter in our development. Motivated by a common goal of bringing HAY’s well-designed, affordable products to an ever-broader audience. we joined forces with renowned American manufacturing company now MillerKnoll to inhabit a solid place on the North American stage and reach yet another market.

“2018 marked the newest chapter in our development. Motivated by a common goal of bringing HAY’s well-designed, affordable products to an ever-broader audience. we joined forces with renowned American manufacturing company Herman Miller (now MillerKnoll) to inhabit a solid place on the North American stage and reach yet another market.

“Herman Miller (MillerKnoll) is the perfect partner to expand HAY’s position in North America. On a personal level, Herman Miller and the work of Charles and Ray Eames are big reasons we do what we do today, and we are excited to align with a company that shares our sense of purpose and values.” — Rolf Hay

OUR STORES

Like the products we make and the world we live in, our stores are always evolving to reflect our universe. For our very first HAY store on Pilestræde in Copenhagen, we chose to start with a small shop on a busy pedestrian street rather than a traditional showroom, primarily in order to maintain close contact with our end consumers.

This remains the driving motivation behind every one of our stores as we grow and expand. In 2007, we opened our flagship store, HAY House, in Copenhagen. Today we have a global presence across 4 continents, and we operate 31 HAY stores around the world.