The rising fame of Oki Sato, founder of progressive design studio Nendo, is hard to ignore. His thoughtful and refined designs have garnered plenty of traction in the Western market, thanks to previous work with Moroso, Glas Italia and Flos. This year, Nendo achieves yet another milestone: a debut collaboration with Fritz Hansen.

Japanese designers are now also making more frequent appearances in brands that have been historically dominated by European designers. With that comes new classics that employ a distinct Japanese design language to explore the unique heritage and strengths of the collaborating brand.