Christian Bjerg Elving and Kim Mekawi built Karakter on a shared reverence for the past combined with a vision for the future. Building from Elving's earlier success reviving iconic Danish porcelain manufacturer, Lyngby Porcelæn, the pair founded Karakter in 2014. Since then, they've built a library of furniture and lighting designs from icons such as Achille and Pier-Giacomo Castiglioni, Gijs Bakker, and Angelo Mangiarotti, as well as contemporary studios like South Africa's Anatomy Design.
Their designs align with the Scandinavian design traditions of their heritage, but with an international outlook and influences. Clean lines, natural materials, and a certain essentiality of presence mark Karakter's selection of designer lighting. In every luminaire they create, one finds the key elements they treasure: relevance, honesty, and expressiveness. To these three, they add an occasional fourth--playfulness--because what good is beauty without a little fun now and then?
Karakter's commitment to quality drew the attention of legendary century-old Italian design company Lifestyle Design Division (better known by its former name, Poltrona Frau Group), who acquired a majority position in the company in 2019. Having joined this remarkable pedigree, and with Elving and Mekawi still guiding its course, Karakter and its line of gorgeously elegant lights can look forward to building a remarkable future on the foundations of the past.