From the Eames Chair to the Archibald, Iconic Design Reedits Come Alive
MILAN — Fueled by the narrowing divide between the worlds of fashion and design, iconic designs are in high demand. Reedited in new colors and finishes, some of the design world’s most famous pieces have been reissued for a new generation of consumers.
WWD has selected a few updated evergreen styles with runway potential.
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Poltrona Frau Archibald Denim Edition
Italian luxury furnishings brand Poltrona Frau on Thursday reintroduced the Archibald chair, this time in denim. This striking new iteration of the chair, originally designed by Jean-Marie Massaud in the 2000s, is the ideal emblem of the evolving synergy between fashion and design. For the new edition, Poltrona Frau used its own Ever-Denim fabric — a luxurious jacquard made from organic cotton.
The Archibald Denim Edition will be available exclusively through Poltrona Frau’s online store starting Thursday in select European countries starting from 5,332 euros.
Gubi’s Bagdad
Gubi’s Bagdad Lamp, a playful 1954 design by French designer Mathieu Matégot, has been reintroduced this year with a tech tuneup. Seventy years later, Denmark-based Gubi has updated the design with UV-resistant coating, electoral components and protection for outdoor usage and a USB-C charger, for portable use. Fully charged, the portable lamp can last up to eight hours at full intensity, 15 hours at half, and 50 hours at 10 percent — enough to get users through the longest of evenings outdoors.
The small brass ball at the top of Matégot’s design now functions as a touch-activated dimmer mechanism in the portable edition, so Bagdad can be switched on and off — or brightened up to three levels of intensity — with just a tap. The lamp will be available at the end of September for $399.
Alias Spaghetti Chair
Alias was founded as an experimental design house in 1979 by Enrico Baleri and Marilisa Decimo with Carlo and Francesco Forcolini. Its first projects were the Broomstick, a series designed by legendary Italian designer Vico Magistretti, and the Spaghetti Chair by fellow designer Giandomenico Belotti.
The latter remains on display as part of the MoMA permanent collection and is regarded as an expression of modern design to this day. As part of the Evolving Icons editorial project, first unveiled at Salone del Mobile.Milano in April, the Spaghetti chair comes to life again in new colors and finishes.
The Eames Chair With Plant-Derived Material
Envisaged from a leg splint gifted to powerhouse duo Ray and Charles Eames by Italian Achille Castiglioni, the Eames Chair is one of the most iconic chairs ever made.
In July, its owner Herman Miller unveiled a new style made from a bamboo-based leather alternative in a custom version of von Holzhausen’s plant-based innovation named Banbū.
Upholstering Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman in material derived from bamboo helps reduce the materials carbon footprint of the chair by up to 35 percent, Herman Miller said. Von Holzhausen is the brainchild of former car designer Vicki von Holzhausen who decided to make a vegan leather without the use of petroleum that has been used on products for companies such as Apple and Seat, which is part of the Volkswagen Group. The Eames chair and ottoman are currently sold on Herman Miller’s website at $7,495.
Zanotta and One Block Down’s Karelia
A series of relaunches were envisaged to commemorate upscale Italian furniture-maker Zanotta’s 70th anniversary, underscoring the brand’s dedication to excellence and design innovation.
The brand worked with One Block Down, a design and fashion-forward multibrand concept store with spaces in Milan, Paris and Rome to revisit the work of Liisi Beckmann, the furniture and object designer who was born in the Karelia region in Finland in 1923 and who moved to Milan in 1957.
The non-conformist pop icon armchair and fruit of the revolutionary days of the ’60s is back in production, this time with eco-leather and metallic hues. The soft, wave-like surface draws inspiration from the designer’s homeland, the Republic of Karelia in Finland, indented by bays and gulfs. The Karelia made in collaboration with One Block Down is currently sold on their website for 2,600 euros.
Knoll’s Bauhaus
During Salone del Mobile.Milano, Knoll unfurled new versions of its Bauhaus-era collections in new shades of white, black and an archival dark red. Among them was the Laccio Table by Hungarian German architect Marcel Breuer, who actually designed at the German school in the 1920s. The release marked the first time the tubular steel collections will be commercially produced in the ultra-matte finishes.
Knoll said that the dark red ultra-matte finish was inspired by a Bauhaus color originally offered on the MR Chair, designed by German American architect Mies van der Rohewhile, while the white and black were valued by Bauhaus designers for how they reflected or absorbed light, enhanced geometric forms and defined edges. The small Laccio Table is sold on the Knoll website for $860.
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