This has nothing to do with taste of design or the price tag on the product. It has to do with stealing from others. We do not in any way support those who copy/steal a design and reproduce it. No matter where in the world this takes place – it’s still stealing.
It’s that simple.

As for the design, of the 400 designs of Hans Wegner, only a few are really valuable, most are rubbish and you do not even want to see them. But fair enough, some designs are absolute masterpieces. However, the poor man is death for some time now, and he will not be compensated with your money.

So the design may well be with craftsmanship and love, but today’s production is with CNC machines and nothing else. Some copies are rubbish, some, even Chinese, are perfect and can not even be distinguished from the so-called original, i.e. the overpriced Carl Hansen pieces.

There is no reason people should pay 3 or 4 times the fair production/market price, only to compensate Danish corporatism, i.e. the overpaid trade union protected Danish workers, or the profits of Carl Hansen & Co. What exactly has Carl Hansen ever done to deserve the loads of money they suck out of our pockets? Protected the Danish way of life? How democratic!

Fortunately there is a democratic choice for the rest of us (the non-snobs): go to the UK where furniture designs are not protected by the copyright/author’s law, i.e. for 75 years after the designer’s death, and pay 1/4 of the Danish price. It is perfectly legal, and perfectly reasonable.

So to all design fans, go for it, feel the difference if you can and decide for yourself whether or not you are a snob.