I was eager to see what Swedish design had to offer and get a sense of its fashion culture, and Altewai Saome was the perfect introduction.
I grew up in a time when Eames and Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright and other architects were putting their furniture and objects on the market. You could buy some of those objects on the open market. Eames was a huge influence on all of us in school.
Scandinavia can be quite fashionable.
In this fast-developing world, particularly in the fast-transforming China market, we really need to take this opportunity and offer a modern interpretation of Scandinavian design which fits people's demands perfectly.
I have never been to IKEA, no.
If there is a Swedish style, I cannot identify it.
Volvo — they're boxy but they're good.
Sweden is famous for many things - but not fashion.
We got to his place and it looked a lot like his personality. Just a bunch of space filler, nothing to really wow you. It looked like he had bought a lot of stuff from IKEA and then decided to refinish it at home. Everything was neat and tidy, but you wouldn't want any of it for yourself.
I've done so much travelling in the past few years, and when you travel, you realise that we do actually have a cool, clean look in Scandinavia - it's not just Denmark - which I think brings peace if you have it in your home.
I love the cleanness of Kaare Klint and Rud Rasmussen furniture, especially the wooden criss-cross under-bars of their sofas.
The Stockholm street style is distinctive, with ensembles that exemplify the city's understated elegance.
