Swedish Luxury Bedmaker Hästens Has Found A Permanent Home In Fortitude Valley
what dreams are made of
By Kate Spence | 17th August 2026Few brands understand the importance of a good night’s sleep better than luxury bed maker Hästens. Founded in Sweden in 1852, the sleep maker has stayed in the same family for six generations, with many of its artisans working the same benches their grandparents once did.
Now, Queenslanders can experience Hästens for themselves, with a permanent showroom newly opened inside Great Dane, Fortitude Valley. To mark the momentous occasion, we chat to Great Dane’s founder Anton Assaad about this exciting new partnership.
About Hästens
Luxury living used to be loud – a designer bag, a high-tech car, a first-class plane ticket. Lately, it’s gone quiet. The real flex now isn’t what other people see; it’s how you feel when you wake up in the morning.
Every Hästens bed is handcrafted and layered by hand with natural fibres like horsehair, wool, flax, and cotton. Utilising the most premium materials, each bed is engineered to regulate temperature and absorb movement through the night. Depending on the model, a single bed can hold up to 37 individual layers, stacked upon one another for maximum comfort while you rest. Hästens bedding is made to order and backed by a 25-year warranty – a testament to their high-quality, long-lasting craftsmanship.
Finding home in Fortitude Valley
Great Dane Fortitude Valley is more than a fitting permanent home for the Swedish luxury bedding brand. Anton Assaad, the founder of Great Dane, first experienced the brand up close when he travelled to Sweden after the pandemic. Visiting the Hästens factory, he described the experience as “beyond anything we could comprehend.”
“The passion of the makers completely changed the way we understood what they do,” Assaad noted.
That reverence for the craft is exactly what Hästens has spent 170 years protecting – a specialised, slower, more deliberate way of making things, during a time where mass production is at an all-time high. It’s a philosophy Great Dane has built its own name on in Australia, and proof that patience, quality materials and true craftsmanship will always outlast speed.
Whilst an investment, value with Hästens goes beyond the surface layer. It comes back to a question Assaad Anton keeps returning to:
“If we spend a third of our lives in bed, shouldn’t we be paying more attention to what we’re sleeping on?”
Put that way, it stops sounding like just a luxury good and starts looking like the most overlooked upgrade for a good night’s sleep. The right bed can truly transform your mornings and evenings, becoming more than just furniture, but a ritual in itself.
Sleep as part of your daily wellness ritual
Creating everyday rituals is a mindset gaining real traction right now. These days, people are drawn to small, deliberate acts that transform not just their day, but their mood and quality of life. So, it is no surprise then that Queensland has quietly become one of Hästens’ strongest markets nationally, as more people start treating sleep with the same seriousness as movement, nutrition, and recovery. Sleep is no longer an afterthought, but a priority in its own right.
The Hästens showroom is now open inside Great Dane, Fortitude Valley, located on 2 Prospect Street.
Whether you’re after a short browse or a private consultation, walk in anytime to experience the craft firsthand and discover what luxury sleep actually feels like. Find out more here.
Images: Supplied (Hästens)
