Combining innovative techniques, defined expertise and the creativity of great contemporary designers, Vitra consistently pushes the boundaries of design. This is Vitra.
Innovation from the beginning...
A family business since 1950, Vitra is built on long-lasting relationships with customers, employees and designers.
Since Willi Fehlbaum established the Vitra company over 70 years ago, sustainable growth and the power of good design have set the brand apart from the rest. Vitra’s origins lie in the chance discovery of a chair by Charles and Ray Eames, spotted by Fehlbaum in the window of a New York furniture store on his first trip to the USA in 1953. The spirit of innovation expressed by the pair’s design represented the modern design movement that continues to be the driving force behind Vitra’s range of furniture and accessories today. The Vitra home collection, launched in 2004, features a blend of classic pieces, re-editions and contemporary designs created for people living and working around the world. Vitra is now in its third generation as a family business, with Nora Fehlbaum at the helm, continuing to develop products loved worldwide by architects, companies and private users for inspirational public and private spaces.
Product Style
Basing their designs on the principle of the collage, the idea that a vibrant living space gains character through a mixture of concepts, Vitra’s products are an eclectic mixture of old and new, high and low, classic and contemporary. Iconic 20th-century designs by George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Jean Prouvé and Verner Panton form the core of Vitra’s Home Collection catalogue, classics that are as timely and vital as ever, still in production today to continue to move and inspire us. Sustainability is another key aspect of the brand’s design culture as Vitra creates sustainable pieces through an intense pre-production development using the highest-grade materials and tests to simulate 15 years of use. This rigorous process to conceptualise and create a product from its earliest stages way into the future, is what makes Vitra a leading producer of sustainable furniture that stands out and stands the test of time.
Iconic Designs
Panton chair
by Verner Panton
The Panton Chair was launched as the very first fully plastic chair moulded in a single piece and the first chair to be independently developed by Vitra. Verner Panton’s eponymous Panton chair is an emblem of 60s experimental design that has become an iconic piece of furniture history. The chair is made from consistently dyed, tough plastic with a matt surface, offering flexible comfort for users and a minimalist, retro and modern statement to homes.
Eames DSW side chair
by Charles and Ray Eames
Designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1950, the Eames DSW side chair is a timeless piece of design history. The seat features a comfortable, organically shaped polypropylene seat placed upon a distinctive wood and wire base with cross struts. The chair’s ‘Eiffel Tower’ base was adapted by Vitra in 2016 to give an extra 20mm of height, an imperceptible revision aesthetically yet one which, along with rubber shock mounts, has greatly increased the comfort of this classic chair design to support longer periods of sitting down.
Tip Ton chair
by BarberOsgerby
BarberOsgerby’sTip Ton chair is made from a single solid plastic mould and can, as its name suggests, be tipped a few degrees forward where it then stays in place. The chair’s unusual skids rise at a nine-degree angle to allow for the ergonomic forward-tilt sitting position, usually the preserve of regular, mechanical office chairs. Durable and unique, the Tip Ton chair is a fun, striking choice with a playful and innovative design that won’t be found in any other chair.