Some designs last for decades and still look as fresh as on the first day. That's exactly what defines a true design classic: a distinctive form, a special idea and a design that outlasts generations.
From the famous Eames chairs to the Panthella and the Flowerpot lamp – we introduce some of the best-known design icons and the stories behind them.
Furniture that made design history
Series 7 by Fritz Hansen
Arne Jacobsen designed the Series 7 for Fritz Hansen in 1955. Its characteristic seat shell and pared-back silhouette made the chair one of the best-known pieces of Danish design.
Eames designs by Vitra
Charles and Ray Eames are among the most influential designers of the 20th century. Designs such as the Eames Lounge Chair and the Eames Plastic Chairs combine functionality with a design language that remains unmistakable to this day.
S 32 by Thonet
Marcel Breuer's S 32 combines the Viennese cane webbing typical of Thonet with a tubular steel frame. The cantilever chair was created in the late 1920s and is now regarded as one of the best-known designs of the Bauhaus era.
Adjustable Table E 1027 by ClassiCon
Eileen Gray designed the Adjustable Table E 1027 in 1927. The height-adjustable side table made of tubular steel and glass is now one of the best-known design icons of classic modernism.
String shelving
Nisse and Kajsa Strinning created the String shelving system in 1949, and its modular construction still impresses today. Different shelves, ladders and elements can be rearranged and extended again and again.
Lamps that became icons
PH 5 by Louis Poulsen
Poul Henningsen developed the PH 5 for Louis Poulsen in 1958. Its multi-shade system was designed to distribute light pleasantly and with as little glare as possible. Its characteristic silhouette has long since become a design classic in its own right.
Tolomeo by Artemide
Designed in 1987 by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina, the Tolomeo is one of the best-known desk lamps of all. Its flexible arm system combines functional task lighting with a clear, technical aesthetic.
Panthella by Louis Poulsen
Verner Panton designed the Panthella in 1971. Its hemispherical shade and trumpet-shaped base form a distinctive silhouette and create pleasantly diffused light.
Flowerpot by &Tradition
Verner Panton's Flowerpot lamp was created in 1968 and still carries the experimental shapes and colours of the late 1960s today. Two opposing hemispheres make the design unmistakable.
Atollo by Oluce
With its geometric combination of cylinder, cone and hemisphere, the Atollo, designed by Vico Magistretti in 1977, changed the idea of what a classic table lamp could be. Today, it is one of the icons of Italian design.
What makes a true design classic?
A design classic isn't simply a product that has been around for a long time. What matters is that a design shaped its era and is still relevant decades later.
Many of these furniture pieces and lamps have been produced for generations and are reinterpreted again and again – in new colours, materials or sizes. Yet their original design remains unmistakable. That's what makes design classics companions that go far beyond short-lived interior trends.
