Eva Solo: 99 years of elegance

Posted on 07. Feb, 2012 by Sigrid in Kitchen Gear

Colour blocking, sleek lines, functional beauty… For over almost a century Eva Solo have been making beautifully clever kitchen tools, and through a plucky ethos and cunning knack for combining function and glorious design, have become synonymous with the very best of Scandinavian design. Ready to fall in love?

Humble beginnings

In 1913 Kai Rohde Fog started creating tools to help the Scandinavian housewife. Success didn’t come straight away: the first really popular product and tipping point for Eva Solo was released in 1949 after Kai’s nephew Erik Mangor joined the company and was a flour shaker that doubled as a citrus juicer, and it was a hit.

Two in one

Killing multiple kitchen tasks with one tool became the brand direction for Eva Solo and informed the famous ‘Yes, but’ ethos which stated that every product should answer the question ‘Yes, it’s an X, but it’s also a Y‘. Acknowledging that the busy working urban cook didn’t need more clutter in the home, they sought to combine two or more simple tasks and make life easier.

Eva Solo

In 1950, the company was registered as ‘Eva’ after the daughter of Erik Mangor and thereafter the company started to produce multi-functional, beautiful home and kitchen tools in earnest starting with a bread and cold meat slicer and potato peeler. Never sacrificing form, they worked on pushing the limits of multi-purposing, with some astonishing but always elegant results.

Over the years, the brand became known for simplicity of design, quality workmanship, and is credited with designing the first ever filter coffee machine (bravo). In the 1970s, another significant milestone for the company was the Eva Trio line of pots and pans, so named due to the three metals the pots were made from to suit various different tasks (aluminium, cast iron, and copper). The unique pots stood out dramatically amidst the sea of cheap and general purpose pans people were used to, and put Eva on the map.

In the 1990s, the brand name evolved to Eva Solo as the brand shifted from producing ranges to releasing single spotlight items, adapting to the growing trend of individual pieces versus matching collections in the kitchen. To date, the company has won 150 design awards and regularly release new and innovative products.

From double-bowled orchid pots (that house and feed the plant) to the famous CafeSolo (that makes and warms coffee) Eva Solo’s range of kitchenalia can be found in use and on disaply in homes the world over and at the end of a rainbow near you.

Browse the full Eva Solo range, and have yourself a wonderful day.

Sigrid is part of the product and merchandising team for Yuppiechef.co.za and makes sure the world is kept up to speed with the latest and greatest tools and brands to be added to the our fold. A simple girl, she loves cheese, cupcakes, blogging and books. View more articles by Sigrid.

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