Danish Pastel Decor: Appealing or Repellent? A Generational Debate

AT A RECENT morning meeting, an editor at The Wall Street Journal’s Off Duty section brought up an interior design trend divisive enough to spur sleepy staffers into either visceral hostility or love at first sight. The style, known as Danish Pastel and currently populating TikTok and Instagram, riffs irreverently on Scandinavian and midcentury-design. The look maintains its antecedent’s simple shapes but replaces the restrained palette of neutrals and natural wood with pastels. Midcentury mushroom lamps pop up in lavender and sage. Accessories have googly eyes.

Off Duty section editor Dale Hrabi narrowed his gaze, resisting this “cute-ification” of a classic style. Meanwhile, assistant editor Nina Molina, a Gen-Zer, cooed over the cheerful colours and cartoonish kitchenware.

With battle lines drawn, the two asked designers for their thoughts on the trend, then returned to face off. Here’s how the debate, edited for clarity, unfolded.

Dale Hrabi: Within the Danish pastel spectrum, I can concede that some things have value, say Muuto’s Kink vase [below], but other stuff just seems ridiculous, like those vases with the faces on them. The Kink vase is a legitimately clever innovation and the color nicely underlines its playfulness.

Nina Molina: The Muuto vase is innovative and clever, but design doesn’t have to be that. It can just be stupid and fun. I think a lot of Danish pastel is about the emotional reaction you get out of seeing those objects in your room.

DH: But it’s like living in a world where the only things to eat are coloured mints or pink fudge and you’re missing out on all the more complex, dimensional flavours, like savoury brisket and kimchi. What do you like to eat? Are you a sugar addict?

NM: I do love sugar. I need to have a little bit of sugar every day. My whole family has sweet tooths…sweet teeth?

DH: But notice you said “a bit.” An interior designer in Denver, Julie Brayton, said she could see using one or two elements from the trend to add a little irreverence to a room. And Munich blogger and editor Karoline Herr [whose home office is shown above] says a pastel statement piece, like a couch, can give an otherwise neutral modern space just the right amount of edginess.

NM: Those Togo chairs remind me of roly polies, too bug-like.

DH: Do you know what I like about them, though? They’re kind of ungainly and look like rumpled Shar-Pei dogs. Do you know the French term “jolie laide?” It literally means “pretty, ugly.” Put Togo chairs in pastels and they become jolie laide. Not too cutesy.

NM: I love that. It’s like when someone is unconventionally attractive, it makes them more approachable. So maybe the ugliness is the edginess?

DH: You need some edge in life to make things interesting. Take the trend’s checked rugs. They are the only point of rigour in this otherwise blobby, gooey world. I think interior design needs rigour and, you know, aesthetic ambition even when it’s playful. Speaking of which, I feel really sorry for Matisse. The poor guy’s been dragged into this.

NM: That’s funny because Chay Costello, the associate merchandising director at MoMA Design Store, was glad young people have adopted Matisse, who’s been on the walls of MoMA practically since it opened in 1929.

DH: I’m also kind of offended that Danish and Scandinavian design has been co-opted so cartoonishly. It’s like taking opera—something culturally advanced and pure—and rerecording it with kazoos.

NM: That’s so horrible, Dale! Chay says there’s a boldness to Danish pastels, that it takes bravery to embrace colour. No one questions a grey or beige interior, but it’s also not very exciting.

DH: I’m wondering here: Am I too uptight about being sophisticated, as someone who came from provincial Canada to New York City? Maybe I hide behind very socially approved notions of sophistication—neutral colours, clean lines—and am inhibited in a way you and Chay are not.

NM: Chay mentioned that the pandemic changed people’s relationships to their homes. If these are my four walls, how do I make them more pleasing? If you lighten a dark blue room a few shades to pastel, wouldn’t it be more comforting? Pastels remind me of the animated TV show from the early 2000s “Dragon Tales” and of Studio Ghibli movies like “My Neighbor Totoro.” I associate them with good times.

DH: Interesting. I associate them with Strawberry Shortcake, that super-shrill cartoon character. But I agree. The world is very grim now. Maybe if I were just starting out, with an uncertain future, I would reach for this kind of immersive “happiness.”

NM: Danish pastel has a fun and bubbly personality, and I like its silliness. It’s OK to embrace the sweetness.

The 2024 Maserati GranCabrio, the company’s new convertible and a complement to the GranTurismo coupe introduced in 2022, is available with either V6 power (the Trofeo model) or batteries (the Folgore).

That means the buyer has a big choice to make. The cars look quite a bit alike, but they’re radically different under the hood. They’re not far apart in price, though: The Trofeo is US$192,000 and the Folgore around US$205,000 (plus US$2,000 in destination charges for each).

The electric is unique in the marketplace as a four-place electric convertible supercar. Maserati also says it’s the fastest 100% electric convertible, but there isn’t much competition. Performance is fully competitive with the existing Folgore GT coupe. The convertible can hit 62 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds, with 277 miles of range (in the lenient European WLTP rating). The top speed is 180 mph.

The GranCabrio has no less than three 300-kilowatt electric motors (one in the front, two in the rear), which work with inverters derived from the Formula E electric racing series to give the car a total of 750 horsepower at the wheels. The battery, at the bottom of the car, is rated at 92.5 kilowatt-hours.

Maserati did its convertible upright. The top is beautifully finished and easy to put down, in 14 seconds, at speeds of up to 31 mph (though the on-screen control is a little confusing to use). A neck warmer allows the car to be used even in fairly inclement weather, and there’s a wind stopper that can go behind the front seats. Having to fit a top in the trunk area doesn’t seriously compromise rear-seat legroom, which is generous for this class of car. The trunk isn’t huge, but if the top is up a flap can be moved to increase luggage space.

Buyers of the Folgore can choose an interior special to the car, with soft-touch seat sections made from Econyl, a recycled nylon product made from (among other sources) used fishing nets, as well as remnants via fabric and carpet manufacturers. Reprogrammable laser edging means that customers can choose custom patterns for their seats.

Buyers of the internal-combustion model get a Trofeo powered by a three-liter, 542-horsepower twin-turbo V6 Nettuno motor derived from the high-performance powerplant on the MC20 supercar. The gas version of the convertible is a bit slower to accelerate than the EV, with zero to 62 taking 3.6 seconds. The top speed is higher, though, 196 mph. Seeing the four purposeful exhaust exits on the Trofeo, you might expect a mighty roar, but in fact both GranCabrios are pretty quiet. They’re proper Maseratis that don’t disturb the neighbors.

Both Trofeo and Folgore use 20-inch wheels up front and 21-inch in back, with multiple designs.

Roberto Cusano, responsible for GT and GranTurismo product planning, says the car offers a unique combination of performance and comfort, while also being “a real and authentic four-seater car that can carry friends and family.”

But it’s also good for thrills, according to Maserati chief designer Klaus Busse. “This is only the second generation of the GT,” Busse says. “And if you want to drive from Italy to Hamburg, you’d pick a stylish and comfortable car that could also work in a side trip to the [German racing track] Nürburgring for a hot lap without looking silly. That’s the Maserati GranTurismo.”

The second generation of the GT has obvious antecedents to the first, something Busse says was intentional. The company still uses old-world methods in shaping body panels and fenders that have some legacy with Maserati road cars such as the 3500 GT, first shown in Geneva circa 1957, he says.

“We wanted to make sure the convertible looked good open or closed, so the silhouette of the convertible with the top up is very similar to the coupe,” Busse says. There are minor differences in the appearance of the two versions of GranCabrio, and slightly different wheels. The EV obviously loses the intercooler and exhaust pipes.

A Multimillion-Dollar Electric Boat

Maserati appears all-in on using electric power for its vehicles, on land or at sea.

The introduction of the GranTurismo on the shores of Lago Maggiore also gave Maserati a chance to show off its €2.5 million (US$2.67 million) Tridente electric boat. The unique example floating at the dock had pearlescent (and copper) finish that changed color depending on the light hitting it.

Built at the Hodgdon Yachts shipyard in Maine from a design jointly developed by Maserati and Britain-based electric boat company Vita Power, the Tridente, with 600 horsepower from twin electric motors, cruises at 25 knots and has a top speed of 40 knots. To keep weight down, the Tridente has a carbon-fiber superstructure and a fiberglass hull. The single-layer battery pack is rated at 250 kilowatt-hours, and delivers a cruising range of 31 to 43 miles.

The highly aerodynamic 34-foot day boat (or superyacht tender) can recharge in as little as an hour. It has eight-passenger seating, and an enclosed cabin under the front deck that includes a bed and toilet. Only this one has been built to date, but given nine months another one could be commissioned, says James Essex, an electric systems engineer with Vita Power.

Danish Pastel Decor: Appealing or Repellent? A Generational Debate

Lilac upholstery and pink mushroom lamps. Two editors, generations apart, debate a hot décor trend’s validity.