Design classics and icons
How does a design become an icon?
Design icons convey the essence of the time in which they were created and are at the same time so timeless that they endure in the long run. They continue to inspire even decades after their creation.
What makes this furniture so special? A special form, unique functionality, an elegant appearance, perfect integrity in the most diverse environments or absolute innovation? Probably an essence of all these points.
Design icons can be placed universally. Their universal form and global design language establish them as archetypes and embed their appearance in a collective memory.
On this page, we show you the most famous classics and series of our manufacturers and designers. Each picture on this page is clickable and leads you to more information about the respective design classic.
We hope you enjoy discovering exciting stories and information about real design icons!
Chairs, armchairs, sofas
Classics of seating furniture
Many famous designs originate from the field of seating furniture. What started with Thonet and the bentwood coffee house chair and continued with modern classics like the Eames Shell Chairs is a wide variety of design seating furniture that combines comfort and function. In this category you will find designer chairs as well as famous armchairs and sofas.
Table, floor & pendant luminaire
Iconic luminaire design
Light has always been of great importance in people's lives. The fact that this is not only for functional reasons is shown by the numerous famous and popular design lamps that have made a name for themselves over the decades.
Sideboards, Tables, Storage
True furniture classics
True design originals are characterised by their timeless aesthetics and high-quality workmanship. Many pieces of design furniture, such as sideboards from USM, can be passed on to the next generation. Their modular system makes them flexible and therefore particularly sustainable.
Jug, Vase, Clock
Home accessory icons
An appealing environment has been proven to increase well-being and it is often the small details that make the biggest impact. You can never go wrong with a design classic from the home accessories sector. Accessories are the perfect way to round off living concepts.
Vitra
Eames Shell Chairs
The collection of Eames Plastic Chairs is one of the most popular and best-selling chair models worldwide. They come from the famous design couple Ray and Charles Eames.
The series around the plastic and fibreglass shells includes many different models with different bases. In our guide you will learn how to choose the right model for you.
Design Classics Luminaires by Flos
Original vs. counterfeit
How can you recognise an original?
Ordinary furniture and home accessories come and go with fleeting trends, but high-quality design icons outlast fast-moving times. Durable materials, excellent workmanship and consistent quality standards ensure this.
Originals draw on their own history of origin and thus also shape the history of their owner, because their significance grows with new life circumstances. They are repeatedly integrated into changing living concepts and thus develop into fixed points of reference in the lives of their owners. This conveys security, peace and permanence and makes an original an original.
ClassiCon
Bell Table
A modern classic - the Bell Table was created in collaboration between ClassiCon and the designer Sebastian Herkner. Within a few years, the design table rose directly to icon status.
Knoll International
Tulip Chairs
The Tulip series is as much a timeless design as it is contemporary - the popular tulip chairs are clearly recognisable as a 60s design and yet work in any modern setting.
Fritz Hansen
Egg Chair
A recognisable form as a guarantee for design history - the Egg Chair knows how to convince like no other design armchair with its haunting form. It is considered a classic of Danish design craftsmanship.
Vitra
Eames Lounge Chair
Designed by Charles & Ray Eames in 1956, the Vitra Eames Lounge Chair has become a true design classic thanks to its popularity.
With the combination of plywood shells and leather upholstery, the design chair broke completely new ground. Discover the famous Eames Lounge Chair by Vitra here:
Louis Poulsen
Design luminaires with history
Louis Poulsen stands like no other luminaire manufacturer for designs by innovative and special designers, such as Arne Jacobsen or Verner Panton.
Popular and well-known series such as Panthella or PH are modern classics today, which know how to convince with their unusual shape and their high-quality workmanship. Discover Louis Poulsen here:
Carl Hansen & Son
CH 24 Wishbone Chair
The CH24 Wishbone Chair by Carl Hansen & Søn, also known as the Y-Chair, is one of the most timeless pieces of furniture in Danish design and exemplifies a successful symbiosis of design and craftsmanship.
Fritz Hansen
Swan Armchair
Like the Egg Chair, the Swan Armchair was designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1958 for the entrance areas of the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. Both designs have since achieved great fame and popularity worldwide.
Louis Poulsen
Panthella Series
The Panthella series with its clear expression and atmospheric light perfectly embodies the special talent of designer Verner Panton. Due to its timeless design, the lamp series is still up-to-date.
Thonet
Cantilever chairs with tradition
The manufacturer Thonet has more than 200 years of history in furniture production. What began with bentwood furniture and classics such as the coffee house chair was carried on in the Bauhaus history.
Here, too, Thonet focused on innovation and unusual ideas: the Bauhaus designs of Marcel Breuer's tubular steel cantilever chairs were put into practice.
AndTradition
Flowerpot luminaire series
The well-known Flowerpot lamp by Andtradition has become a synonym of the Flower Power movement in the 60s. In its design, it reflects a time in which conventions were bypassed and an open and modern mentality was established.
A homage to Denmark's design heritage and a bridge between old and new design - the manufacturer Andtradition stands for exactly that.
Vitra
Panton Chair
The Panton Chair by Vitra is a true classic in the history of design furniture. It was already designed in 1959 by the famous designer Verner Panton. But it was only in 1967 that it was produced in series in cooperation with Vitra.
A form that fits the body is brought into harmony with the technology of a cantilever chair - that is the underlying idea for the Panton Chair. The combination with the slightly flexible material creates a design chair with special seating comfort.
