Brand Stories: Fritz Hansen Outdoor

Fritz Hansen Outdoor Furniture and the Desert Southwest

If you are furnishing an outdoor space in the desert Southwest, the category of furniture you are looking at matters as much as the specific pieces. Most outdoor furniture is designed to survive the elements. Fritz Hansen outdoor furniture is designed to look better because of them.

A brand with 150 years behind it

Fritz Hansen has been making some of the most recognized furniture in the world since 1872. The Series 7 chair. The Egg. The Swan. Pieces that earned their place not through trend but through an uncompromising commitment to craft, material, and form. When Fritz Hansen acquired Skagerak in 2021, they were adding an outdoor collection built on exactly the same values.

Skagerak was founded in 1976 by Jesper and Vibeke Panduro on the northern tip of Denmark, where the Skagerrak strait meets the North Sea. It is about as demanding an environment as furniture can face — salt air, wind, and relentless weather year-round. That origin shaped everything about how these pieces are designed and built. FSC-certified teak and oak, textiles made without harmful chemicals, and a repairability standard that treats longevity as a design requirement rather than a selling point.

In 2023 the collection became Skagerak by Fritz Hansen, and in 2026 it was fully integrated as Fritz Hansen Outdoor. The name has changed. The pieces have not.
These were among the first pieces I brought into Ökenhem when I opened the shop. They remain some of my favorites.

The design philosophy

Fritz Hansen outdoor furniture follows the same principles that have guided the brand for over 150 years. Clean lines, honest materials, forms that age with dignity. Nothing is decorative for its own sake. Every detail has a reason. The pieces are designed to live in real conditions: sun, wind, rain, and in our case, extreme desert heat. Powder-coated aluminum frames resist UV fading and corrosion.

Teak surfaces weather beautifully over time, developing the silver-grey patina that signals a well-made piece living its life outdoors. Outdoor-rated fabrics hold their color and structure through a full season of hard use. With proper care, these pieces last a lifetime. We have a teak care guide if you want the details.

Why Fritz Hansen outdoor furniture works in the Southwest

There is a reason Scandinavian outdoor furniture translates so well to the desert Southwest. Both environments demand furniture that performs under real pressure. Nordic design learned long ago that beauty and durability are not competing values. A piece that holds its form and material integrity over years of hard use is more beautiful for it.

In a desert home, the outdoor space functions as a room for most of the year. You want pieces that look as good in their third season as their first, that you do not have to think about in the hot sun, or every time a monsoon rolls through.

What the collection includes

The Fritz Hansen Outdoor collection includes dining tables and chairs, lounge seating, and occasional pieces, all designed to work together or integrate into an existing outdoor space. The palette runs toward the muted and natural: warm greys, soft whites, deep charcoals, teak. Colors that hold their character under a high desert sky.

If you have never considered Fritz Hansen for your outdoor space, it is worth a closer look. The same clarity of form that makes their interior pieces so enduring translates directly outside. And in a climate like ours, that is not a small thing.