Carl Malmsten's role in Swedish 20th-century furniture design cannot be overestimated. He had an early breakthrough as a young architect when in 1916 he was commissioned to design furniture for Stockholm City Hall. He had previously trained himself through internships at various carpentry workshops and studied traditional furniture styles at the Nordic Museum and Skansen in Stockholm. Malmsten became one of the foremost representatives of 1920s Swedish classicism, also known as Swedish Grace. He collaborated with several of the leading architects of the time, notably with Ivar Tengbom on the interior design of the Stockholm Concert Hall and Ivar Kreuger's Matchstick Palace.

Alf Munthe was a Swedish artist and designer, primarily in textiles. After receiving his artistic education at the Stockholm Academy of Arts, Munthe undertook several study trips to Europe. Munthe founded the "Smedsuddskolonin" together with Victor Axelson and Torsten Palm. Eventually, Munthe came to focus on textile work, from the 1920s with embroideries for Thyra Grafström's studio, for example for the Skandia cinema. Others were woven at Elsa Gullberg's studio. From 1934, Alf Munthe began a collaboration with the Handarbetets Vänner, which continued into the 1950s. Munthe participated in a large number of exhibitions, both in Sweden and internationally.