Le Klint

Established in 1943, Le Klint is a distinguished ambassador for Danish lighting design and craftsmanship. In 1900, driven by the need for better lighting in Danish homes, which were mostly limited to oil lamps at the time, architect and engineer Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint folded a lampshade for a stoneware petroleum lamp using a cross-pleating technique inspired by origami. This helped diffuse the sharp light of the flame and direct the light where it was needed. Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint is the architect behind Grundtvig’s Church in Copenhagen, known for its geometric shapes, clean lines, and classic gothic architecture. After coming up with the cross-pleating technique, folding paper into lampshades using the cross-pleating technique became a Klint family hobby, refining the design over time. In 1943, Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint’s son Tage Klint founded the Le Klint company, opening a shop in Copenhagen with early designs, the first being the Model 1 lampshade, which featured a grip-collar designed by Tage that allowed the shade to attach to a frame. Other designs included those made by Peder’s second son, architect Kaare Klint. Known as the father of Danish Modern Design, Kaare Klint designed several iconic lamps for Le Klint, including the Model 101, also known as the Lantern, which featured paper folded into a three-dimensional ball with a complex yet striking structure. Le Klint opened a shop in Copenhagen, featuring Kaare Klint’s pine furniishings, Gunnar Biilmann Petersen’s signature wallpaper, and a lamp display arranged by architect Mogens Koch, who also designed the Model 105. The shop was managed by Tage Klint’s daughter Lise Le Charlotte, keeping the business within the family. Once Tage Klint passed, his son Jan went on to run the company, streamlining production processes and introducing new designs, including Erik Hansen’s Sax Lamp, an extendable and retractable wall lamp. In the 1960s, a new foil material was introduced in production, making it possible to fold the lampshades into entirely new shapes, bringing an even more modern look to the Le Klint lighting family. Over the years, Le Klint has collaborated with many designers, including Poul Christiansen, shirking short-term fads to favor functional and timeless designs.