There are two common misunderstandings when it comes to products that do not belong to Stokke®:
- The product belonged under the Stokke® umbrella until 2006, but now belongs under Varier.
- The product looks very similar to an existing or past Stokke® product, but is not actually an authentic Stokke® product.
Varier and Stokke® were once the same company using the Stokke® name, as they both had direct ties to the designer, Peter Opsvik, that made both companies possible. This also is the reason why some older Varier chairs might contain an old Stokke sticker. However, in 2006, there was a split to clearly differentiate between the two different paths of existing and future product portfolios. Stokke® has a focus on children's furniture and other juvenile products, whereas Varier exclusively focuses on Scandinavian chair designs - perhaps most known for the Balans and Gravity chairs. This split also enabled Peter Opsvik to continue working on his passion for developing ergonomic and innovative chairs designs.
Peter Opsvik's design of the iconic Tripp Trapp® chair has inspired multiple lookalike products which are often mistaken for the Tripp Trapp® - in extreme cases, there may even be counterfeits posing as the Tripp Trapp®. A similar counterfeit trend has been spotted among other products, such as the YOYO® stroller. This is one of the reasons why it is crucial to always keep the proof of purchase available whenever there is a product defect claim, to ensure the authenticity of the product. It is also best to always purchase from trusted sources and avoid second hand markets, in case the intent is to find an authentic product.