A Danish photographer’s eye and sense of aesthetic adventure fuels an exciting collection of designer-driven classics of the future.
Please Wait to be Seated creative director Thomas Ibsen went from taking pictures of rooms to producing the Danish brand’s often bold and imaginative furniture to fill them. Thomas shifted from a career in fashion to interiors for London’s Wallpaper magazine, as well as design houses Gubi, Hay and Muuto. In 2014, he started PWTBS, launching the brand's collection from a consortium of designers the next year. Longtime design industry executive and board member Peter Mahler Sørensen joined the company as CEO and co-owner in 2016, and Thomas continues his focus on product development.
With an eye to creating a new generation of modernist classics that defy easy characterization, the brand’s very name reflects a blend of politesse and practicalness along with startling originality and a sense of humor. Often exhibiting a graphic silhouette grounded in Thomas’ photographic experience, the collection ranges from the spare luxury of Portuguese designer Rui Pereira and Japan's designer Ryosuke Fukusada’s Anza seating, to the showstopper Keystone lounger from Dutch designers Os & Oos and the Zen-infllected metal tray table from young Danish designer Laura Bilde. At the heart of each new fantastical product lies the question of sustainability and durability that also guides Thomas: Will this design, in its entirety, become a long-lasting object we someday can pass on to our children? We say, yes.
