Fredrik Mattson trained for several years as a cabinetmaker before studying interior architecture and furniture design at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. After graduating in 2002 Mattson collaborated for four years with his classmate Stefan Borelius until 2006, making furniture designs for a.o. Blå Station. For their stackable chair Sting from 2003, Matsson and Borselius was awarded both the Best of the Best Red Dot Design Award and the Golden Chair by Architects Sweden.
Mattson's breakthrough as furniture designer came in 2001 with the chair Innovation C, designed while still at Konstfack as part of a fictive project for the Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm. Innovation C was one of the winners of Young Swedish Design and when shown at the Stockholm Furniture Fair, it was spotted by Blå Station who took it into production. Innovation C was for a long time one of the company’s best-selling products, mostly on the international market.
In 2010 Matsson founded his own design studio, Fredrik Matsson Verkstad where he works with producers such as Materia, Zero and Vivero. Mattson has been the recipient of several awards including the Forsnäs Prise (2005), Designer of the Year (2007) and the Red Dot Design Award (2014). As a designer Mattson is represented at the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm, the Röhsska Museum of Craft and Design in Gothenburg and the National Museum of Art in Oslo.
