Design Within Reach is Full of It  

Disagree
Respectfully, Equality, I disagree with you. While the intent for some in the modernist movement may have had some ideas of democratic design those goals seem never to have been fully realized. The Barcelona chair - the seemingly ubiquitous emblem of modern design - was created explicitly for royalty. Mies himself described the for it to be "an important chair, a very elegant chair and costly. It had to be monumental. You couldn't just use a kitchen chair" (1929)

lucifersum
lucifersum so sorry about the insiuation..... that is what i get for thinking that Lucifer was a woman

Like probably a lot of...
Like probably a lot of readers on this forum, I recognize and applaud any product anymore that embodies both quality components and pride-in-craftsmanship, and that goes for furniture especially - simply because it takes up so much room in your life! You want something handsome, that ages well and was designed/manufactured by people who love what they do, rather than sweatshop slaves employing textiles of dubious origin. Unfortunately, this is expensive, and getting more expensive everyday.
I'm not endorsing the often outrageous prices that a lot of official manufactures suggest, but I think you have to look at it this way; owning anything is a burden and a financial liability. You are required to house and maintain it and transport it when you move, and perhaps even pay to insure it. So why not, therefore, make it worth all the bother? That's why I try and shoot for the best I can afford, even if I have to sit on my hands and save for it. For myself at least, it's not at all about brand loyalty. For example, I would take a Knoll sofa, without any signature anywhere, as long as I had the peace of mind knowing that it was made to their same exacting standards, right down to the screws. It wouldn't matter to me if anyone else knew or cared.
Also, I agree with the suggestion that the overload of cheaply made, but good-looking reproductions cannot, in the long run, be good for things. It will either mean someplace like Knoll will have to cut corners or outsource to keep pace, or that the prices will increase treble, estranging the few who really do care about the differences. Well made reproductions priced competitively however, such as Modernica's offerings -- this I applaud.

Everyone has an opinion
Here's mine:
Technically, Herman Miller and Knoll are not happy with people buying used Knolll and Herman Miller pieces; they want you to buy the new ones. Neither the companies or the designers (or their heirs) make a nickel on the sale of a previously owned item.
Most of my collection are originals. I did buy a black crinkle finish Wassily chair in black leather for $200.00 from a local shop. I also bought a Chinese-made Eileen Gray round metal and glass table to go with it...it came in a box saying "made in China.
I doubt if there's any remaining heirs of either Gray or Breuer who still receives royalities....so I'm not concerned.
I'm not interested in buying inferior quality knockoffs. Part of the issue is the price companies like Knoll, Richard Schultz and Fritz Hansen charges for their currently available items. Herman Miller, in my opinion, is more reaonably priced, through (of course) still expensive.
I prefer buying originals; I'm not even too thrilled about buying a legal reissue...but I HAVE broken my rules.
I do want the heirs to make whatever profit they have coming, but I don't want to be ripped off, so it's like walking the "fine line".
First choice: finding the original in good condition on eBay
Second choice; buying the current version from the legit dealer (Hive, Retromodern, Highbrow, etc.)
Third choice; buying a knockoff from the Furniture Fancy, Modernica, etc.)
Fourth choice; buying a Chinese knockoff piece of crap in eBay...(I serious doubt the quality of a lot of these Chinese knockoffs).
I wanted a pair of Nelson benches and rather than buying them at regular retail, I discovered that homeofficedesigns.com has a clearance page and I bought a pair of 72" Nelson benches - that came in Herman Miller boxes and have the proper label - with slight repairs (one had been reglued and one had a small ding) for $250.00 each!
So....being sophisticated and sniffing around can be very useful.
Creatively check out homeofficedesigns.com from time to time and check out eBay and do your homework.

finally.....a last comment (read the above one too)
DWR is annoying, as is Room and Board. Both are Herman Miller dealers, but they don't appear to carry all of the items available. They pick and choose.
And....if you buy from either company and they have a store in your state, you'll pay sales tax.
I'm in Minneapolis and I use DWR as a gallery and if I want to buy, I buy it from either
Hive
Home Office Designs
Retromodern
Highbrow
and get it shipped free with no sales tax......that's ONE way to save a bit of money.

Knockoffs is a subject that drives me to disctraction...
The plain and simple truth of the matter is that many of these designs are no original even when made by the lisence holders. Production changes, changes in materials and in some cases changes in dimensions, render them all'knockoffs' to some degree or other. Secondly, what these so called 'true manufacturers' axctually hold is the copyright license to the name of the product...that right folks the NAME,just he name, or the designer or of the chair. The design specs have long passed into the public domain according to patent law.
Therefore the whole argument is predicated on marketing bullcrap. Period originals are truly the only originals. All the rest are reproductions. Period. End of story.
It's fine to wantto buy a well-made piece that is as faithful as possible to the original design, but you are all fooling yourselves if you think that buying from 'the official license holder' makes the product somehow better.

Olive...yes and no
The two 72" George Nelson benches I got that were recently made are made with the same quality as the original slat benches. Yes, they're blond birch and do not have the golden tone as the originals, but they're made by the same people using the same design and quality.
Yes, I prefer the vintage originals, but at $250.00 each for $700.00+ benches is a hellavalot better than buying a pair of beat up original for too much money and they need refinishing.
However, I did buy the following originals on eBay:
- Grasshopper chair and ottoman
- 2 red plastic top Aalto/Thonet stools
- 1 Eames walnut Time Life Stool
- all of my CSS pieces
- 2 Sonneman floor lamps
- 4 Eames EC upholtered metal leg dining chairs
- 2 Nelson end tables
- 1 Florence Knoll coffee table
- 1 Kartel TV cart
So...most of my collection is vintage.
FINALLY: currently made products by Knoll, Herman Miller, Thonet, Artek, Fritz Hanson or Kartel are NOT knockoffs....they're NOT the same as illegal copies. Let's use the term KNOCKOFF as the illegal copies...not the one from the legit companies.

Those Nelson benches are Herman Miller
Lest someone thinks I bought knockoffs, those 72" benches I got for $250.00 each were from Home Office Designs, an offical Herman Miller dealer....they were just from their clearance page.

I have had this conversatio...
I have had this conversation to many times, even thoe some diagree any thing made by the original manufacture and it has been in continutious production is not a knockoff or repoduction
If a chair is in continuous production, like lots of the Herman Miller chairs they are original
the marshmallow and LCW were reintroduced in the 90's so they are considered reissued by the original company,
When Alphaville gets a hold of the piece it is a reproduction of the original design and that is often called a knock off.
When modernica makes stuff it is a reproduction to a design by Charles Eames
cause they don't have to pay royalty cause of the names they use,
I would not worry about the heirs they got theirs , I would look for good solid workman ship no matter who makes it,

To Turbo11
A Porsche is a Porsche and not just in name.
And a Yugo is one that would never be the same.
They'll both get you from point A to point B.
But for the money, it's the Porsche for me.
Because in the end the best costs less
As timeless styling is less of a mess
The Yugo will put your patience to the test.
The Porsche looks fast when even at rest.
The original of a thing, your good taste will be evident, whenever upon it you shall sit.
While the knock-off will will make you ask yourself, "What was I thinking when I bought this piece of shit."

I have always owned Merce...
I have always owned Mercedes and three
years a go i bought a Porsche Cayenne
to haul stuff around . (chairs) i have to say it is a dog. it is not the turbo s it is the 6 banger and that is what it is a banger.
It looks great it just has no pep. ( the dealer says it was under powered from the beginning) but i will be going back to a ML 500 when i get my new car or a range rover.
classic example of something looking
good but don't no crap....

And this points up why...
And this points up why manufacturers should stick to their knitting and not try to be all things to all people. Porsche is one of the preeminent designers of sports cars, operative word here being "cars" and not trucks. Mercedes at least has experience in large heavy commercial trucks and the G Wagon for military, now civilian applications so the ML class makes perfect sense. Porsche on the other hand has always been a builder of phenomenal 2 place go fast transports. The die-hard purists (myself included) have been near apoleptic since the introduction of the Cayenne. Porsche only came out with an SUV as they garnered ever increasing popularity here in America. Any Porschephile wouldn't give a plug nickel for a Porsche SUV, although we obviously have opinions about them. Most feel Dr. Porsche must have spun in his grave when the Cayenne hit the streets. One can have a sports car or one can have a truck, but to have both in the same package is about as useful and a quality execution of either as, how do they say it down Texas way, as useful as tits on a bull.

Let's get out terms right
LRF:
You and I are on the same page about what is 'original', 'reproduction' and 'knockoff'.
It's a lead pip cince that Fritz Hanson is making Jacobsen's Egg and Swan chair DIFFERENTLY from when they were first issued.
All of the foam-filled pieces from Knoll and Herman Miller are using a better, different foam product, because history has PROVEN that the original period foam gets hard and difficult.
THINGS CHANGE...and yet, the new ones can still be called "original".
So, let's get our terms straight;
ORIGINAL (VINTAGE) - self explanatory
ORIGINAL (CURRENT) - items either kept in production over the years or reintroduced by the SAME maker with the same quality
REPRODUCTION - legal items liscensed to be made by a different company (like George Nelson's clocks being made by Vitra or the Bubble Lamps being made by Modernica
KNOCKOFFS - the La Courbusier, Eileen Gray, Breuer, and the Nelson benches being made in China by companies like Furniture Fancy or Alphaville
Can everyone agree on these???

you got it!!!!!!!! publish...
you got it!!!!!!!! publish it for ever and ever.

fritz hansen changed the s...
fritz hansen changed the swan and egg last year after 50 years from the star indented base to the round base and started numbering every thing and marking it Fritz Hansen cause of major knockoffs being sold in Europe where their stuff sells 3 to 1 compared to American sales,
As you are aware all of the major furniture houses from time to time changed the foam and fabric as to be with the times and green correct, that is no big deal , as this was a good sign and did not change the design of the piece.