We met when we worked side by side at Acne Studios’ biannual publication Acne Paper during our university years – the magazine introduced us to a world of art and artists, architecture, history, photography, interiors, great hosts and hostesses, craftspeople, exotic destinations and personalities – it was a wonderful world that created a stepping stone for us to explore our own aesthetic and universe. After setting up Campbell-Rey, we explored this through creative direction and art direction projects for brands in the legacy and craftsmanship industries and with time we were asked to take on art and design assignments which has now evolved to an art and design atelier. We work across a wide range – from historical renovations of residential houses, to architecturally inspired artworks, to interiors, to design objects and furniture collections – because of our background, research and storytelling are intrinsic to our work.

All of it – we are both avid collectors and travelers. We are constantly seeking out new things to look at, see, feel, experience, obtain – it’s a bit of an obsession but I think our job is more a calling than a 9-5 so we couldn’t not.

We are always drawn to great colors – delicious colorways that evokes emotion and that draws you in to touch. We used the color palette of Copenhagen’s Thorvaldsen’s Museum as a starting point for these newly imagined rugs as both of us, like him, are from Northern Europe but great admirers of Italy and its warm saturated hues. Thorvaldsen was a Neoclassical Danish sculptor in marble and plaster, the only non-Catholic artist to ever work in the Vatican, and in the 19th century he was very celebrated due to his craft and often compared to Canova. Towards the end of his life, upon his return to Copenhagen, he was given land next to one of the royal palaces to erect his own museum to display his life’s work. The resulting design was a historical mash-up of Greek and Roman classical architecture with Egyptian and Pompeiian motifs with unique ceilings in each room in the grotesque style – giving for an enthusiastic gesamtkunstwerk. As we are both historical art and architecture buffs, and we love color – we were drawn to the interiors of the building but also felt a creative affinity for Thorvaldsen as an artist.

I think when you create works, you learn quickly that there is no such thing as a wholly original or new idea. You owe so much to so many before you so there nothing is never fully yours, and you never own anything. So in that manner, we have many favorite pieces and they all mean so much but in different ways. Also tastes shift, something I really didn’t like last year might be my favorite thing today.

Fully explore your creative side and learn your likes and dislikes to the best of your ability – then also understand that design is a business.