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El Greco Gallery

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Fauteuil Direction Pivotant

The Dutch fashion label G-Star RAW has found an expression of its identity in Jean Prouvé’s designs – technical objects that embody the principle of structural necessity while simultaneously exuding a poetic aura. As works that have attained the status of classics, they have served as a continual source of inspiration for the creative team at G-Star. In 2011, Vitra and G-Star RAW joined forces to launch Prouvé RAW, their first crossover collection.

Prouvé’s constructive logic and strict utilisation of honest industrial materials not only corresponds to the product philosophy and brand identity of G-Star but also shows a strong affinity to the architecture of Rem Koolhaas’s new G-Star headquarters, built in 2014. Thus it was a consistent decision to completely furnish the offices, conference rooms and canteens with designs created by Jean Prouvé some 70 years ago for the interiors of several French corporations and universities. Together with the architecture, they create a workplace that reflects the company’s radical design approach.

In cooperation with the Prouvé family, Vitra has adapted the French designer’s furnishings to meet today’s office norms and needs, while teaming up with art directors at G-Star to develop colours and details. As part of this project, single and double workstations, conference tables, office chairs and several other furniture pieces were issued exclusively for G-Star. In the new Prouvé RAW Office Edition, the designs in this crossover collection now become available to other companies and collectors.

Several industrial shades of green, leather and fabric upholstery materials, and other details pay tribute to the origins of these furnishings. Made of steel and solid wood, the tables, chairs and cabinets in the Prouvé RAW Office Edition bear witness to a bygone industrial age. Its former factory floors and workshops are now occupied by creative agencies of the digital era, who share the same values of hard work, authenticity and sustainability.

Authenticated with a special edition label, the furniture and lighting in the Prouvé RAW Office Edition will be available until the end of 2016.

About Designer
Jean Prouvé
Jean Prouvé completed his training as a metal artisan before opening his own workshop in Nancy in 1924. In the following years he created numerous furniture designs, and in 1947 Prouvé established his own factory. Due to disagreements with the majority shareholders, he left the company in 1953. During the ensuing decades, Prouvé served as a consulting engineer on a number of important architectural projects in Paris. He left his mark on architectural history again in 1971, when he played a major role in selecting the design of Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers for the Centre Pompidou as chairman of the competition jury. Prouvé's work encompasses a wide range of objects, from a letter opener to door and window fittings, from lighting and furniture to façade elements and prefabricated houses, from modular building systems to large exhibition structures – essentially, almost anything that is suited to industrial production methods. In close cooperation with the Prouvé family, Vitra began in 2002 to issue re-editions of designs by this great French constructeur.