A Little Optimist for Every Occasion: Hoptimist's Bumble Classic Collection
Some objects don't just sit in a home - they lift the mood of it. Hoptimist has built an entire design philosophy around the idea, and for Story 13 of our 25-year series, we turn to one of its most enduring characters: Bumble, from the Classic Collection.
Hoptimist became a DMI partner in 2024, and this story is a fitting continuation of a series that has, so far, celebrated craftsmanship, colour and quiet joy in equal measure. Few brands express that last quality quite as literally Hoptimist.
A happy movement, born in a workshop
Hoptimist's story begins in the late 1950s, in a small workshop in Arhusvej in Stilling, Denmark, where woodturner Hans Gustav Ehrenreich ran "Ehrenreich's Trækunst" - a place defined by imagination, where no two hand-turned pieces were ever quite the same. It was here, in the late 1960, that Ehrenreich created the first prototypes for Birdie, Bimble and Bumble. At the heart of his approach was a simple idea - drawing each figure from a simple circle and ellipse - one so enduring it still underpins every Hoptimist made today, classic or new.
Bimble and Bumble were the very first of Ehrenreich's happy figures: Bimble, the dress-clad female optimist with smiling eyes, and Bumble, the attentive male optimist with open eyes and a small top hat pin. Strong colours and harmonious, rounded shapes marked them as true to their era - and decades later, that same spring-hopping energy remains completely intact.
Hans Gustav Ehrenreich, in his workshop
Editor's takeaway
Bumble captures what Hoptimist does best: taking a simple, rounded form and giving it unmistakable personality - optimistic, playful, and impossible not to smile at.
The Bumble Classic Collection
Bumble appears across several Hoptimist collections, but the Classic Collection is where the figure's original spirit lives most vividly - defined by bright, happy colours, some of which have remained solid favourites since 1968. Bumble is available across four sizes - small, medium, large and extra large - though not every colourway appears in every size, giving each piece a slightly different character depending on the combination chosen.
The Classic Collection, in colour
A design philosophy, still in motion
What's striking about Hoptimist is how little the core idea has changed since Ehrenreich first sketched it. Every new figure the brand develops is still made "in Ehrenreich's spirit" - the same simple, round logic that gave Bimble and Bumble their form over sixty years ago. It's a rare kind of consistency: a design language simple enough to keep evolving, yet distinctive enough to always be recognised.
Ehrenreich's original sketches for Bimble and Bumble
A lasting idea
Hoptimist's Bumble is a reminder that good design doesn't need to be complicated to be meaningful. Sometimes, a rounded shape, a bright colour and a little spring-hopping motion are enough to bring genuine joy into a room - and to keep doing so, one generation after another.
Quick roundup
Partnership - Hoptimist became a DMI partner in 2024.
Origins - Created by Hans Gustav Ehrenreich in the late 1960s, drawn from a circle and an ellipse.
The figure - Bumble is the attentive, open-eye optimist with a signature top hat pin.
Sizes - Available in small, medium, large, and extra large (colourways vary by size).
Continue the 25-year design story
Hoptimist's Bumble is Story 13 of 25 - a joyful chapter in a series that continues to explore the ideas, objects and partnerships shaping Design Mode International's design story.
