The Original

Our Commitment to the Original

An original design classic is the result of a close relationship between designer and manufacturer. Only those who acquire the necessary licenses and trademark rights, and thereby assure that they strictly adhere to the concept and ideas of the author in the production of the object, i.e. can be formally licensed to manufacture and distribute a specific design: the original. Real design furniture is high-quality, stable in value, durable and created in the sense of the author - whoever invests in an original is investing in a piece of design history.

An Original is a Matter of Honour

Buying an original always pays off. While counterfeits are made of inferior materials and have numerous defects, such as inaccurate assembly, irregular colour gradients, adhesive residues, etc., originals stand for value stability and high quality. Last but not least, the purchase of an original shows true understanding of design and ultimately honours the property of the intellectual author.

Quality goods. Standards of Manufacture and Warranty

Design classics such as the Vitra Lounge Chair by Charles and Ray Eames or the Barcelona armchair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe impress not only aesthetically, but above all because of their extraordinarily high quality. Thus, wood and covers are carefully selected by the licensed manufacturers and processed until they meet the high demands on the quality of the product. All processing and assembly steps are carefully planned and carried out by specially trained staff. To make this transparent, visitors to the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein as part of production tours or in the Lounge Chair Atelier are offered the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes. But design classics are not just concerned with maintaining the status quo: Vitra recently readjusted the seat height of the Eames Plastic Chairs to better reflect on current average body dimensions. And ecological aspects are given special attention in the production of designer furniture. Many manufacturers only use FSC certified woods or recyclable materials. In addition, every piece of furniture is subjected to a rigorous quality inspection, thus enabling an extremely long service life. Highest quality standards enable Vitra to grant an extended manufacturer's guarantee of up to 30 years on selected design classics. You can find out which Vitra furniture is covered by the guarantee and all the information you need to register here or directly on the Vitra website. Other manufacturers also offer generous warranty claims. Classicon, for example, grants a 20-year manufacturer's warranty on the classics by Eileen Gray.

Design Classics Write History

Vitra Panton Chair by Verner Panton

The Panton Chair by Verner Panton

Standing as the "first chair of one piece", a world without the Panton Chair is unimaginable: yet the path to it was long. Verner Panton worked on an S-shaped cantilever chair back in the 1950s - initially using moulded plywood before turning to the then novel material plastic. Panton designed the first prototype in cooperation with Dansk Acryl Technik; however, this was hardly suitable for sitting. Looking for a manufacturer with which he could bring his design to series maturity, Verner Panton initially had it not easy - 15 different manufacturers are said to have rejected the project before finally Rolf Fehlbaum, son of the Vitra founders, brought the development to Switzerland out of sheer enthusiasm for Panton's design. After numerous experiments, in 1967 the first prototypes were made of glass fiber reinforced polyester. In 1969, the polyurethane cast foam "Baydur" cast in one piece in series, but since the production proved to be very expensive, and so in the course of the 70s, the production switched to thermoplastic injection molding. However, this could not withstand a dynamic load permanently and Vitra finally had to stop production in 1979. Today, Vitra produces the Panton Chair Classic as a re-edition of the complex, but unbreakable, rigid polyurethane foam. Thanks to new injection moulding options, Vitra and Panton also developed a Panton Chair made of polypropylene in the 1990s, which has been on the market since 1999. In addition, the children's version Panton Junior was created, and new special editions of the design classic by Vitra are regularly released.

Thonet bentwood chairs

The Thonet bentwood chairs, popularly referred to as coffee house chairs, are correctly considered pioneers of industrial design. In addition the Thonet 214 stands in the history of furniture design as one of the most successful models ever produced. The coffee house chair shaped an entire era and made the German furniture manufacturer Thonet famous around the world. The company's founder and designer of the timeless classic, Michael Thonet, was only able to develop the work thanks to the technique of bending solid wood he perfected. Thonet experimented until he was able to use hot steam to change the shape of wood so that the backrest and legs of the chair could be bent. To this day, the process gives the Thonet chair 214 its characteristic appearance and the name bentwood chair. The Thonet bentwood chair quickly became one of the most popular seating options in Viennese coffee houses of the early 20th century and beyond: Thanks to the reduced number of components, it was possible to ship 36 chairs in disassembled form all over the world in a transport box measuring just one square metre. Assembly was only carried out on site, which was a novelty at the time and made it possible to distribute the design chair on almost all continents of the world.