ICF Produced Eames Aluminium Chairs  

ICF and the DePadovas
From the e DePadova volume (Motta Edi., 2006):
Interview with Maddelena DePadova:
"Hence Fehlbaum's [of Vitra] misgivings. He, too, thought the Eameses' work outstanding, but he hadn't yet made up his mind to manufacture Miller's furniture under license. He said 'You think there are people interested in this furniture?'
'We are!'
'Well, then, let's do this collection!'
"The upshot was that a year later, in 1958, we founded the ICF factory at Vimodrone and began to make [Herman] Miller furniture for Italy. In a few years we produced the whole collection. And that how American design came to Milan."
Hope this helps.

I can't tell you when you...
I can't tell you when you stopped manuafcturing them (as they now seem to have done- though their Una chair is similar), but I do remember that they were still making them in the mid-90s. I used to sell them on behalf of my then-employer, Terence Conran, as he and Vitra were not talking to each other at the time. We sold the Aluminium (British spelling) Group chairs and the Eames daybed too.
I remember, too, that ICF started to re-manufacture the George Nelson Pretzel chair around the same time, over a decade before Vitra got in on the act.

Vitra.
Vitra has always been the only company authorized and licensed to produce eames and other herman miller designs in europe.

Not true Chewbacca. Mobilier...
Not true Chewbacca. Mobilier International, Vitra, ICF and Hille all had permission from Herman Miller to produce Eames design under license for the French, German, Italian and UK markets respectively. I believe Vitra flexed it's rather large muscles and froze the other companies out of the equation. I'm not quite sure when ICF ceased production but have seen/had chairs that looked like they were produced in the 1990s.
Finally, the quality of ICF chairs is excellent. They are not QUITE upto Vitra standard but do run them close and of course save the wallet a fair few pence.

saw some in an auction last week
they looked brand new - maybe someone out there has seen an opportunity and produced some ICF labels and stuck them on some really cheap rip-offs?
chrs,
paul

ICF aluminium group
I visited an ICF showroom in Bologna in 2001 that had various Eames pieces on display. I picked up an illustrated aluminium (sic) group/ soft pad group catalogue in English and Italian. Interestingly, one of the pictures shows an optional "armrest in die-cast aluminium with leather or fabric upholstery" that I've not seen elsewhere. The catalogue also shows bases painted black or white as options, and offers a nylon net fabric among other fabrics. Otherwise the pictures look much like the HM/Vitra versions.

ICF aluminium group
Here are some more excerpts from the catalogue:
Since as far back as the 1960s ICF holds the right to manufacture and market all the products designed by Charles Eames respecting the original designs to the full, while introducing small improvements required by present regulations and new technologies.
Separated by a ten-year span, Aluminium Group and Soft Pad Group are definitely the most sought-after chairs of ICF production.
Forty years later, ICF still produces these collections, maintaining the original working sequences and directly taking care of all the production stages; from moulding the die-cast aluminium, to stitching the upholstery of the seats and backs.

Interesting Peter, are the...
Interesting Peter, are the aluminium and softpad group still in production? I have had a few softpad chairs in excellent condition that have looked like the were produced in only the last couple of years. I also have a nice lobby chair in black leather, not seen an ICF version of the lobby before this.
If I paid, would you be able to photocopy the catalogue for me? Would be very grateful!

ICF aluminium group
I don't know if they are still in production, but they certainly were back in 2001 when I was in the showroom.
I was surprised to see the ICF chairs--I had never heard of ICF before and hadn't known there were authorized makers besides HM and Vitra. (I chanced upon the showroom walking around while on vacation in Bologna.)
The catalogue shows only the aluminum and soft pad but they had other Eames furniture in the showroom. The 670 lounge and ottoman had the Vitra-style base. Sometime I'd love to find out why there are two different base styles.
I'd be happy to scan or photocopy the catalogue, just let me know how to send it to you.

Does that mean
I'm a little confused - It was my understanding that most of the Eames furniture came under Vitra control fairly early on. Does ICF still have license, do they produce the chairs for Vitra to sell, or are they now operating without official license? And in which market does ICF sell?
Vitra's website used to have a timeline that specified when they picked up various pieces, but it is no longer posted.

Hello Peter,
Thanks for...
Hello Peter,
Thanks for that. A scan would be great, my email address is mail @ retrosixty. co. uk (with no gaps obviously! - those pesky scammers 🙂 )
Lucifer - the whole ICF/Vitra argument is a murky one, I am not sure if anyone bar those who were involved in the court cases know exactly what went on, all I know is ICF chairs were/are genuine chairs albeit not as valuable/well known as Vitra offerings.
Cheers
Nick

one note
I found one note that Vitra consolidated licensing in 1984. this seems to make a bit of sense - if other companies were seeing a lull in sales, Charles and Ray had recently died, and a new design scene was coming to the forefront - why would Vitra not push HM to consolidate the licensing? Was anyone clever enough to copy the Vitra timeline from their website? (I sure wasnt)

Thanks for all the...
Thanks for all the contributions so far.
I had always thought that ICF had stopped production around the end of the 80s but I picked up a couple of chairs recently that are in near mint condition, hense the question at the begining of this thread.
The Vitra chair are obviously more desirable, I prefer the 4 point base as opposed to the ICF 5 point base which I understand was an alteration to the original design introduced to satisfy health and safety legislation.
Peter, I would also love to see the ICF catalogue if you could email it to me as well. mcminteriors @ yahoo . co .uk
{without the gaps}

Vitra Aluchairs with castors...
Current Vitra Aluchairs with castors also have a 5 point base.
From the timeline:
1957: European launch of furniture designs by Charles & Ray Eames, as well as by George Nelson (produced under license from Herman Miller, USA)
1986: Vitra acquires the European and Middle Eastern rights to Eames and Nelson products.
1988: The company acquires a large section of the Charles & Ray Eames Estate
Here is the whole thing as a pdf:
http://modular-living.net/docs/vitra_timeline.pdf