Hi, fellow design addicts. My wife and I have been fans of the Eames side chairs forever. And when we a few years back—when we still didn’t have the money—in Switzerland got our hands on two worn-off fiberglass chairs with La Fonda base for a very low price, we, of course, went with it.
After enjoying the chairs for a few years now, I finally started researching if they are the real deal or just a nice knock-off. As the shape (wider seat, lower backrest), as well as the base, tell DSL, we can’t find any final proof of their real origin. So maybe someone in the community can help us out here. Details (as also shown in the pics):
- Red-ish color
- Coated metal base
- Stamped only with a “V”
- An additional “I”-like mark at the middle-lower as well as the middle-upper edge of the shell
- 5 weird holes at the lowest part of the seat
The “V” would point towards “Vitra”. I found images of it on Google Image Search that also show a Vitra sticker that could, of course, have fallen off over the years.
Any experts that could tell us more about it?
Thanks in advance from Berlin.
Seems like authentic Vitra DSL with original (possibly vinyl) upholstery removed. Holes in the shell were intended to allow air to evacuate when upholstery padding is compressed. We don't see knockoff La Fonda bases here in the US, probably because the aluminum casting would be prohibitively expensive to replicate.
Your chairs are authentic La Fonda but missing the upholstery which is similar to the HM /Vitra contract arm and side chairs. There was a company called Burke in the USA that tried to make a look alike base but not quite as open and are usually paired with a look alike of both the Eames and Tulip chairs by Saarinen.
Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Great to know that the chairs are authentic. As far as I know, Vitra was collaborating with HM from 1959 to 1980. So I guess the chairs resulted from this partnership?
If I’d want to restore the upholstery, I’d probably need to have them custom-made, right?
Our bases are pretty worn-off with the Chrome gone in many places. I wonder if/how this could be restored/remade.
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