Live@ICFF, Editor’s Pick: Flower Chair from Magis

The legendary French designer Pierre Paulin forges yet another fruitful furniture collaboration.

Pierre Paulin is having his moment. Although he left Paris to retire to a secluded life in the French countryside, he now seems, at age 82, busier than ever. I first met him and his wife in January at Ligne Roset’s exhibition in Paris, where he was showing a collection of furniture. He’s already collaborated with Ligne Roset and Artifort; now you can add Magis to the list. His Flower chair for Magis makes its North American debut at ICFF. The injection-molded piece, available in North America through Leif Petersen, is made of transparent polycarbonate (available in clear, smoke grey, or brown) with colored seat cushions. While plastic chairs sometimes feel a bit flimsy, this one weighs more than 20 pounds, so it has some heft. It wasn’t easy to get right: Magis’s founder, Eugenio Perazza, had to do at least ten prototypes, and he drove to Paulin’s house in the country more than twenty times (for an estimated total of about 25,000 miles on the road). Magis is also showing the new Grcic 360 stool, which I can only describe as … fugly.

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