Frama

Frama is a Copenhagen multi-disciplinary design house whose work spans furniture, lighting, home goods, fragrance and a self-care line of body, hand and hair products. It was founded by the Danish designer Niels Strøyer Christophersen, who built the company around what he describes as plainness, simplicity and permanence, working with essential shapes and solid, natural materials to make objects intended to last. The studio operates from a 19th-century apothecary building in Copenhagen, a setting that gives its beauty range, sold under the Apothecary name, both its surroundings and its theme.

The company remains active. It runs a multi-region storefront covering Europe and the United States, with current self-care and fragrance collections, a regularly issued FRAMA Calendar and ongoing collaborations such as Beni x FRAMA.

⚑ Thinner sourcing. The article relies largely on the brand's own statements (T2–T3). Glowpedia is seeking independent sources.

Frama was founded by Niels Strøyer Christophersen, who grew up in a suburb south of Copenhagen where, by his account, his mother took him to flea markets and thrift shops as a child. Before starting the company he worked at a department store and in sales for other design brands, and he has said the move into his own business was driven by a desire for independence [5]. The brand launched with two furniture pieces, the Sutoa cabinet and the round Sintra table, the latter made in cork and natural stone by a Portuguese collaborator using local materials.

Sources disagree on the year. Goodee World and Visual Pleasure both date the founding to 2011 [5][6], while The Modern House gives 2012 [7]. Frama's own website states no founding year. The earlier date is the more widely supported in editorial coverage, but the discrepancy is unresolved.

Frama is based in Copenhagen, and operates from a 19th-century apothecary building in the city's Nyboder district. Editorial coverage identifies this as St. Paul's Apotek, described as having been established in 1878 [6]. The historic pharmacy supplies the name and the mood for the company's Apothecary self-care series.

Frama presents itself as a multi-disciplinary brand "encompassing furniture, lifestyle objects, self care, and fragrances that encourage mindful living," and frames its output around natural materials and craftsmanship [1]. In interviews, Christophersen has set the practice against fast trend cycles and disposable materials, saying the company works "with essential shapes and solid, natural materials" and that Scandinavian design, as he sees it, "is really about the materials, the craftsmanship, the function of an object" [5]. He has summarised the underlying values as "simplicity, integrity and essentialist design," with an emphasis on longevity.

That outlook runs through how the brand talks about its objects more broadly: a preference for the analogue, the natural and the patinated, muted palettes drawn from natural materials, and an interest in how things age and wear over time rather than in seasonal change [7]. The self-care range carries the same logic into beauty, positioned as part of a single design world rather than a separate cosmetics venture. Editorial writers have placed the brand within slow-beauty and Scandinavian-minimalist currents.

Within beauty, Frama's central line is the Apothecary self-care collection, a roughly seventeen-product range covering hand, body and hair care, including hand wash, hand cream, hand and body lotion, body wash, body oil, shampoo and conditioner, along with gift sets and refills. The collection's signature scent, also called Apothecary, is described by the company as "woody yet refreshing—a window to the past infused with memories" [3]. Alongside Apothecary, the self-care line is offered in further scent series named Columnae, Escalier and Herbarium. The self-care range was designed by Lena Norling in Denmark [4].

The flagship Apothecary Hand Wash is described as a mild, scented cleansing gel made with natural and organic ingredients. The company lists aloe vera, thyme oil, shea butter, vitamin E and extracts of flax, cotton and fig among its nourishing components, and gives the fragrance as a woody profile built on sandalwood, cedarwood and ylang ylang. Products are packaged in reusable Italian glass bottles with pump fittings, with refills supplied in PET containers.

For the Apothecary Hand Wash, Frama states that the product is made in Denmark and is gender-neutral, vegan and cruelty-free [4]. The company emphasises natural and organic ingredients and a refill system, presenting the reusable glass packaging and PET refills as part of a durability-focused approach in keeping with its wider design ethos [4]. The packet records no third-party certifications.

Frama has been the subject of founder-led editorial features rather than awards. The Modern House published an interview with Christophersen in 2021 centred on plainness, simplicity and permanence in the brand's design philosophy. Goodee World ran a profile, "Frama's Niels Strøyer Christophersen Makes Things That Last," covering the founding, the apothecary headquarters and the essentialist ethos. Visual Pleasure examined the relationship between the brand's home design and its beauty range, with the St. Paul's Apotek building as architectural and heritage context.

Frama is active. The company maintains a live storefront across European and United States sites, carries current self-care, fragrance and furniture collections, and continues to publish a FRAMA Calendar and pursue collaborations [1]. There are no indications of dormancy.