Cecilie Manz was born in 1972 in the Odsherred region of Denmark. As the child of parents occupied with art and design, designing always formed a natural part of her life. She chose design as her living when she began studying at the Danish School of Design in 1992. Her great interest for function and conceptualization took her further as an exchange student to Helsinki where she attended the Finnish University of Art and Design. In 1998, a year after she graduated from the Danish School of Design she started her own studio, Manz Lab, the centre of her work ever since.

Fritz Hansen started his company October 24, 1872 in Copenhagen, specializing in the manufacture of small furniture parts. In 1915 the first Danish chair in steam bentwood was launched at a new factory in Allerød, north of Copenhagen. It was an immediate success. In the mid-20s Fritz Hansen started a serious and productive teamwork with leading furniture designers. This kind of teamwork has characterized Fritz Hansen ever since. The cooperation with architect Arne Jacobsen began in 1934. However, it was the laminated wooden chair, the Ant, from 1952 that became the biggest success in Danish furniture history. The cooperation with Jacobsen generated a number of laminated chairs but also other world acclaimed furniture such as the Egg and the Swan from 1958. Fritz Hansen has continued working with designers which has resulted in many epoch-making pieces of furniture in the 1960s and 70s. Since then Fritz Hansen has continually added new furniture to its collection.