About

NAV History

New impressions create new expressions. That’s the way it has always been – and indeed still is.

“Nav” is an abbreviation of “Scandinavian” and the designation covers the Scandinavian journeymen who, from the 1200s, took their crafts abroad to familiarise themselves with other artisanal traditions and foreign cultures.

From 1609 the journeys were no longer only for the adventurous. It was decided that an apprentice could not become a master in his craft until he had spent at least three years abroad.

One wasn’t regarded as a proper craftsman until he had been ‘on the road’. The nav had more experience and was more skilled than someone who had never been outside of the city walls. And when a master needed a craftsman for his workshop, he would definitely prefer someone travelled.

The wanderings abroad gave the journeymen opportunities to learn from the development in other countries, make comparisons and use the newly gained knowledge at home, adapting it to domestic preferences. The journeys would bring innovation to their craft, as well as to society at large.

That’s the way it’s always been – and indeed still is.

NAV Scandinavia embodies the navs of today.

NAV SCANDINAVIA

WORLD Inspired – HOME Founded.

Our passion is to create contemporary home and living designs. We go abroad to live, work and be inspired: impressions create expressions in a simple, aesthetic, functional style – rooted in our Scandinavian design history and cultural heritage.

Our ambition is to cultivate new, innovative designers. Raw talent and openness to the world make our product portfolio broad and unpredictable.

Design without borders in more than one sense.

PHILOSOPHY

We salute the navs.

We, the founders of NAV Scandinavia, are modern navs ourselves. We have chosen to go abroad in order to evolve professionally and personally. We find that on the journey opportunities arise, that would otherwise be missed.

The world’s diversity is an endless source of inspiration. With open-mindedness, we embrace it.

Our aim is to pass on this approach to work and life to the next generation of designers, thereby creating unique and inspiring designs.

We open the world to young designers.

BECOME A NAV SCANDINAVA DESIGNER

Walk in the footsteps of the navs.

We offer talented and innovative designers the nav-approach to life and work.

NAV Scandinavia designers travel to China to spend time in our Shanghai design studio. They are involved in the actual product development, while experiencing the local traditions and culture.

They get an experience of a lifetime, and broaden their horizons – the original nav way.

The nav spirit lives on.

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WONDER DRAGONFLY

Our first product is an excellent example of our brand concept: to be inspired by the world, and interpret that impression into a Scandinavian expression. WORLD inspired – HOME founded.

A Danish designer is fascinated by the delicate balance point of an Indonesian toy; a piece of local craftsmanship in wood is transformed into an elegant design in steel, with incredible detail. WONDER Dragonfly is a delight in balance, elegance and lightness.

PACKAGING

GREAT DESIGN DESERVES THOUGHTFUL PACKAGING.

Our packaging is a reference to the NAV Scandinavia heritage – the ancient navs, Scandinavian journeymen. Just as they ventured along dusty paths under blue skies on their travels, our packaging is crafted from recycled earth-hued cardboard and paired with our iconic blue sleeve to reflect these wanderings abroad and our minimalistic spirit.

Every one of our eye-catching designs tells a story, and each package is artfully adorned with a detailed silhouette illustration of the product inside and finished with the product name and designer. To complete the experience, the interior of each box is lined with hand-packaged recycled cardboard, ensuring every object has its place.

Genuine, authentic, minimal, and environmentally mindful; True to the original nav philosophy.

Design to the last detail.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

NAV Scandinavia’s general position on corporate social responsibility is outlined in our Code of Conduct, which addresses human rights, ethical and environ¬mental behaviour in connection with our business. It is drawn up with reference to the relevant ILO and UN conventions.

NAV Scandinavia takes corporate social responsibility (CSR) very seriously. We have formulated our own Code of Conduct (CoC), which we require all of our main production partners to abide by.

Before entering into a business relationship with a partner, we will audit the factory. This is followed by audits conducted by external companies at regular intervals on selected production partners.

If any breaches of CoC should be discovered, a remediation plan will be jointly drafted immediately and agreed upon by our production partner.

NAV Scandinavia believes that by taking this approach, we can actually contribute more towards meeting social and environmental standards than by simply rejecting all manufacturers, who initially may not necessarily live up to our CoC.

As stated in our CoC, we will take the cultural differences and local factors into consideration, but we will not compromise on the fundamental human rights, basic requirements regarding health and safety, and environmental protection.

About NAV Scandinavia