Aalto’s Gone Glossy

Tom Dixon, the new creative director at Artek, made his inaugural splash at this year’s Milan Furniture Fair, with new designs by Harri Koskinen and Eero Aarnio as well as a line of bamboo furniture. But Dixon also had a hand in the classics on display at Artek’s ICFF booth— the British design star conceived of the color palette for Glossy Black, a series of Aalto designs coated in a glossy midnight. Managing Director Mirkku Kullberg says that Armchair 400 (also known as the Tank Chair) has most people drooling—even after 70 years in circulation. The curvy lacquered birch arms contrast against a smoky leather seat and back. “We think there’s a tendency for a more formal look,” Kullberg says. “The black is a little strict in that fantasy, and the lines come up very beautifully”; the leather version retails for approximately $6,000.