UMAGE: Copenhagen's Flat-Pack Answer to Shipping Emissions

UMAGE is a Copenhagen design house founded in 2008 by Jacob Nannestad and Søren Ravn Christensen, and nearly everything it makes ships flat-packed in a box that folds down small. That single decision cuts the volume of every shipment, and UMAGE has backed it since 2025 with FSC certification, B Corp status, and Life Cycle Assessments on its ten best sellers. We carry UMAGE furniture and lighting at Comosum because the flat-pack idea is one of the few sustainability claims you can verify by opening the box.

The Story Behind UMAGE

The name is a Danish word that roughly means "making an effort." The company began with lighting and grew into a full furniture and lighting brand that, by its own count, is now in more than 1,500 stores across more than 50 countries, according to the UMAGE about page.

The founding pitch was straightforward: Nordic design traditions, affordable prices, and a supply chain built around shipping less air. The founders describe wanting "a sustainable concept of flexible quality designs" that made good functionality accessible to ordinary households rather than only to design collectors.

The product that made the brand recognisable is the Eos lampshade, a soft sphere of goose feathers that packs into a compact box and is assembled at home. It has since spawned an entire family, including the Eos Evia and Eos Esther shades we stock. The Asteria pendant, a slim LED disc that now carries a 10-year warranty, followed and became the brand's second signature.

What ties the range together is an in-house design team that treats flexibility as a feature. Most UMAGE lampshades can be used as pendants, floor lamps, table lamps, or wall lamps by pairing them with standard bases and cords. Lounge chairs and cabinets use interchangeable upholstery, so a velour seat can become leather without replacing the chair. It is a Copenhagen studio working on a global logistics problem, and the flat-pack box is its answer.

How UMAGE Is Built Sustainably

UMAGE publishes its efforts in more detail than most brands at its price point. The facts below come from its own Climate Action Plan and certifications page; where the brand has not yet measured something, we say so.

Materials

Since February 2025, UMAGE has held FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) chain-of-custody certification, covering both its FSC-labelled wooden products and its packaging. All furniture textiles were switched to the Horizons fabric, made from 100% recycled polyester, certified under the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and tested to STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX. The Hope leather carries OEKO-TEX LEATHER STANDARD and GRS certification. The goose feathers on the Eos lamps are a by-product of the food industry, sanitised and certified under the Responsible Down Standard (RDS), which audits the supply chain against live-plucking and force-feeding.

Manufacturing

Design happens in Copenhagen; production does not. UMAGE's production page lists upholstered furniture made in Denmark, lounge chairs in Poland, wood in Vietnam, and the Eos feather shades, glass, and marble in China, with local UMAGE staff in China and Vietnam handling factory visits. Sea freight is the primary transport method wherever feasible, which pairs with flat-pack design to lower emissions per unit shipped. Packaging eliminates foam, and the brand states that most designs ship flat-packed to reduce transportation volume. One honest gap: UMAGE has not yet completed a full greenhouse gas inventory. It has finished Life Cycle Assessments on its ten best-selling products and plans to expand them through 2027.

Certifications & Recognition

UMAGE is a Certified B Corporation, one of 186 in the Nordics at the time of certification. It holds FSC certification (2025), GRS and OEKO-TEX certifications on its textiles and leather, and RDS on its feathers. The Asteria lighting family carries a 10-year warranty on its LED components. Since 2021 the brand has funded tree planting through One Tree Planted for every wooden product sold.

Why UMAGE Belongs at Comosum

We carry a lot of Danish lighting, and much of it is expensive. UMAGE fills the gap between fast-furniture lamps and heirloom pieces: a feather pendant for under $200 that arrives in a box you can carry up the stairs, from a brand that has done the certification work rather than just the marketing. That combination is rare, and it is why UMAGE sits among the sustainable furniture brands we recommend first to renters and first-apartment buyers.

We are also clear-eyed about what the story is and is not. UMAGE's designs are Danish; its factories are mostly in Asia and Eastern Europe. The flat-pack box reduces shipping volume, but the brand has not published a per-product emissions figure, and we will update this post when its expanded LCAs are public. What we can verify today is the B Corp status, the FSC certification, and the recycled and RDS-certified materials, which is more than most lighting at this price offers.

Within our UMAGE collection, the pendants and lampshades are the entry point, the Komorebi oak pendants and Clava Wood floor lamps sit in the middle, and the interchangeable-upholstery lounge pieces are where the "made to adapt" idea pays off over a decade. You will find them alongside the rest of our sustainable lighting and pendant lighting.

Explore UMAGE at Comosum

• UMAGE Eos Plug-In Pendant, White — the original goose-feather sphere, RDS-certified, with a plug-in cord so no electrician is required.
• UMAGE Eos Evia Plug-In Pendant, Medium — a layered, more structured take on the feather shade that reads as a soft cloud over a dining table.
• UMAGE Carmina Hardwired Pendant, Medium — a pleated shade that ships flat and assembles by hand, one of the clearest examples of the brand's packaging logic.
• UMAGE Komorebi Hardwired Pendant, Rectangular, Oak — oak slats that filter light like sun through leaves, the effect the Japanese word komorebi describes.
• UMAGE Clava Wood with Tripod Floor Stand — an oak bell shade on a tripod, the piece to choose if you want UMAGE's wood story in a single lamp.

Browse the full UMAGE collection at Comosum →

If you are still deciding between lighting brands, our sustainable lighting buying guide compares UMAGE with the other makers we stock, and our B Corp furniture and lighting brands post explains what that certification actually checks.

Frequently Asked Questions About UMAGE

Where is UMAGE furniture and lighting made?
UMAGE is designed in Copenhagen, Denmark. Production is split by material: upholstered furniture is made in Denmark, lounge chairs in Poland, wooden pieces in Vietnam, and the Eos feather shades, glass, and marble components in China. The brand keeps local staff in China and Vietnam for factory visits and quality control.

Is UMAGE a sustainable brand?
UMAGE is a Certified B Corporation and has held FSC chain-of-custody certification since February 2025. Its textiles are 100% recycled polyester certified to the Global Recycled Standard and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX, and its Eos feathers are Responsible Down Standard certified. The brand has not yet published a full greenhouse gas inventory, but it has completed Life Cycle Assessments for its ten best-selling products.

What materials does UMAGE use?
UMAGE works with FSC-certified oak and other woods, RDS-certified goose feathers for the Eos lamps, GRS-certified recycled polyester for upholstery, OEKO-TEX certified Hope leather, glass, marble, and long-life LED modules. Most lampshades are designed to work with interchangeable bases so one shade can serve as a pendant, floor, table, or wall lamp.

How does flat-pack design reduce shipping emissions?
A flat-packed lamp or chair occupies a fraction of the container space of an assembled one, so more units travel per shipment and each unit carries a smaller share of the freight emissions. UMAGE pairs flat-pack design with sea freight as its primary transport method and foam-free packaging. The brand has not published a per-product emissions figure for this, so treat it as a design principle rather than a measured percentage.

How do I assemble a UMAGE Eos pendant?
The Eos arrives as a compact, flat box. You unfold the feather shade, fit the included frame, and attach it to a plug-in cord set or a hardwired canopy. UMAGE publishes assembly videos and user guides on its website, and no special tools are needed.