A customer recently sent us a link to what looked like a real bargain: a Barcelona stool by the world-famous Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for just €849! She was more than surprised by our price (more than €4,000) and asked how this was possible. The customer's link was to a counterfeit; our product is the original – or, strictly speaking, a licensed re-edition of the 1920s design classic. So what's the story with counterfeits, replicas and originals? I asked our design expert Markus Abraham. Now I know: not every original is the same – and you can spot counterfeits before you buy.
How to tell counterfeits, licensed replicas and originals apart:
- Originals or licensed re-editions – the genuine design objects
- A licence to produce: not everyone gets one
- Re-editions: approved improvements to the original
- Counterfeits & fakes – cheap copies and how to spot them
- Unlicensed replicas – design objects without an original manufacturer
- Looking ahead …
Originals or licensed re-editions – the genuine design objects
"What we commonly call an original is actually a licensed reproduction or re-edition," explains our team leader in range management. "Like a painting, there's really only one original. Strictly speaking, in product design that would be the first product or prototype made on the basis of a design. If it exists at all, it might be in a museum or sold for a high price at auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's." Unlike art, he says, furniture has been designed for mass production since at least the mid to late 19th century – it is made in series. Its design is meant to benefit as many people as possible. It's unclear which piece from that first series could even be called the original. That's why the year of production is also a decisive factor for collectors and design lovers.
A licence to produce: not everyone gets one
"The original as it once existed no longer exists today," Markus notes. "Design is created on computers. The first design can be produced as often as you like without one product differing from another." That's why, today, it's all about patents, licences and trademark rights. Not everyone can acquire a production licence. Designers sell their designs or work with a company on a contractual basis.
When designers have died, foundations or their heirs decide what happens to the designs and who receives the production rights. "For example, the company Rosendahl is in close contact with Kay Bojesen's family. His widow found numerous designs from 1935 to 1957 in the attic and decided to pass them on to Rosendahl for production," Markus explains. "Today, the Rosendahl Design Group produces the Kay Bojesen Denmark collection in close collaboration with the Kay Bojesen family, which is why some of the wooden figures even bear the names of family members."
Tecnolumen still produces the Wagenfeld lamp today according to Wilhelm Wagenfeld's original designs from 1924. Every single lamp has a licence number engraved under its base plate and bears the Bauhaus and Tecnolumen marks.
Re-editions: approved improvements to the original
Not all design objects are still identical to the original design today. Over the years, they have been improved – sometimes in collaboration with the designer. A good example of these re-editions are the Eames Plastic Side Chairs by Ray & Charles Eames. The original was made of fibreglass, as today's plastics weren't available in that quality back then. In the late 1990s, the manufacturer began using polyamide for the seat shell. Today, Vitra uses polypropylene.
The Panton Chair is a similar example. It couldn't be produced any further after the first series, because the plastic wasn't of high enough quality. The design classic was relaunched in the 1980s and 1990s, after Vitra had worked with the designer Verner Panton on today's version.
Counterfeits & fakes – cheap copies and how to spot them
We speak of a counterfeit or fake when patented design objects are cheaply copied without the manufacturer holding a licence. The brand or designer name is used for advertising, but the original designs and material specifications are ignored. "In terms of quality, these don't come close to the original – or to licensed re-editions," says the head of range management. "Many counterfeits are cheap copies and very poorly made."
Many shops have design classics copied without a licence, use inferior materials and profit from customers not knowing any better. Those customers are then surprised when the piece of furniture gives up after just a year or two. How can you spot these shops? "Customers should be sceptical of very low prices, especially for design classics. Of course, prices for originals or licensed reproductions also vary from shop to shop. But the difference is usually less than 20 per cent. If something is more than 50 per cent cheaper, you should be careful," says Markus.
Unlicensed replicas – design objects without an original manufacturer
Finally, there are products that have earned their status as design objects over the years, but for which no one ever applied for a clear patent. A well-known example is the Frankfurt chair, which Max Stoelcker designed in the 1930s for the exhibition of the Frankfurt kitchen. Following this, 10,000 flats in Frankfurt were fitted with this type of kitchen, including the Frankfurt chair. There was a patent, but model 2200 was copied with slight changes so many times by the then company Bombenstabil that nobody knows any more which original came from whom.
"Well-known chair manufacturers also began making chairs with modified details. In the 1950s and 60s, the Frankfurt chair became the standard chair in public offices and schools," says Markus. "The long-established manufacturer Stoelcker – from whom we source the Frankfurt chair – has the most direct link to the chair's history, but even Stoelcker has no legal right to call its chair 'the Frankfurt chair'. The term is not protected."
One consequence of unlicensed replicas is often a wide variety of workmanship and differences in quality. "If there's no original manufacturer, we make sure the quality is right. Connox is interested in furniture for generations, not the cheap option," explains Markus.
The design classic Butterfly Chair by the designers Bonet, Kurchan and Ferrari-Hardoy is also one of these unlicensed replicas. "Manufacturers such as Cuero Design, Weinbaum and Manufakturplus produce the classic as close to the original version as possible. The individual chairs don't even differ much in quality," Markus believes. Another example is the world-famous Ulm stool, designed by Max Bill in 1954. Today, it is produced by wb form, but a more expensive version is also available from the renowned company Zanotta as the Sgabillo.
Looking ahead …
Licensed reproductions and re-editions – these are the design objects we sell at Connox. They are the closest thing to the original – made on the basis of the original designs and according to the designer's material specifications.
It doesn't take a trained eye to tell a counterfeit from an original or licensed reproduction. In the coming months, we'll introduce you to a few pieces of furniture and give you an insight into the differences in materials and workmanship between various classics.
