Six generations of Hästens: the living standard behind every bed

Every Hästens bed begins with a decision made long ago. In 1852 Pehr Adolf Janson, a master saddler, chose to learn his trade well enough that it could support a life, and to take responsibility for the quality of everything that left his workshop. The house now calls that decision its living standard, and it has been carried forward by six generations of one family.

His son Per Thure Janson understood that mastery is not preserved by standing still. The horsetail hair, the patience and the hand skills of the saddler were carried into a new context, from supporting movement to supporting rest, and the saddlery became a maker of beds.

With David Janson, the third generation, Hästens grew from a family workshop into a factory without loosening its grip on craftsmanship. He wanted a workplace that would inspire the people in it rather than an assembly line, and he commissioned the British architect Ralph Erskine, then little known, to design a new dream factory in Köping. The town has been home to Hästens ever since, and every bed is still made there by hand.

The fourth generation, Solveig and Jack Ryde, gave the house its most recognisable signature, the Blue Check, first seen on the 2000T, the bed Hästens introduced as the Bed of Tomorrow. Jan Ryde, the fifth generation and chief executive, took the family business onto the world stage, with Hästens Sleep Spas today in cities from London and Wilmslow to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, New York and Los Angeles.

The full heritage chapter is told in the Hästens Sleep Book at hastens.com. Its message is simple: the standard set in a saddler’s workshop still defines how a Hästens bed performs, night after night.