The sea, the water, and glass are related childhood treasures for Erika Lagerbielke. The feeling of swimming and diving, with reflections, movements, and the play of light and optical phenomena have left traces on her style as a glass designer – one of Sweden’s most experienced and respected, with a successful 40-year career at Orrefors behind her.

Lagerbielke (born in 1960) was raised in Stockholm, where she still lives and works. She is from a family with strong artistic and aesthetic traditions. Her mother, Gunilla, was a successful textile artist, and later the head of the University of Arts, Crafts & Design in Stockholm, and her father, Lars, was a graphic designer. Erika’s artistic interests were awakened early – as was her particular passion for glass as a material.

She has become known in Sweden and internationally primarily for her stemware glasses for Orrefors, especially her wine glasses, with classic collections such as Intermezzo, Merlot, Difference, More, and Beer.

Erika Lagerbielke’s special commissions have included unique ceremonial objects, such as the Hook of Sigfrid for the Diocese of Växjö, Sweden, a baptismal font bowl for Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, UK, and the wedding set for Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, a gift from the Swedish Parliament and government in 2010. Erika Lagerbielke has also been a professor at Linnaeus University in Sweden since 2005, where she teaches and conducts research part-time.