Mies  

http://www.api-bvba.be/EMEL/barca/index.html
This fella contacted me last year about research that he was doing on the mies chair and people manufacturing it this is very interesting ,

here is a copy of the front page the other part of the web site tell all the companies in China and Italy that make the chair nice work Melvin

Welcome to the M90 "Barcelona Chair" Vademecum!

What?
This is an information platform covering all sorts of data about the M90, a chair designed in 1929 by German architect Mies van der Rohe. The M90 is bettger known as the "Barcelona chair".

Why?
The idea for this website came somewhere after a long period of searching for a good-but-not-as-expensive-as-the-"orginal" M90 chair, better known as the Barcelona chair.

Who?
This website is meant for anybody interested in buying an orginal or replica M90 chair or who just wants to be informed about its origin, context or background.

Summary of analysis (2006-present)
Until this day, Knoll (U.S.) remains the only OEM with the orginal exclusive manufacturing and sales rights. However this hasn't stopped other companies from producing and selling the chair under a slightly different name with minor modifications to the original specifications from 1929. In 2007, this chair is being produced by many different OEMS (Orginal Equipment Manufactures) around the world, but mainly concentrated in two countries: Italy (Europe) and China (Asia).

During desk-research many different designs with lots of different quality standards were analyzed. Main outcome is that, when buying the chair, one should focus on 3 focus points: Dimensions, Material and Manufacturing.

Italy, still holds a strong position when it comes to overall quality (leather) and customer service (2-3 languages), however new, emerging markets like China are trying to get a piece of the market as well, with fluctuating qualities. China's accelerating economic developments and industrial know-how could be a future threat for the Italian manufacturers. 5 years ago there were zero Chinese manufactures of the M90 chair, today there are up to 15.....

As for the mid and long term (>10) there are 2 main developments that will push production further East. 1) Costs and 2) Legislation.

1) it is expected that most of the italian oems, will eventually be forced to move their production over to China, where wages are a fraction of the European averages. Also material costs are explicitly lower than in Europe. Some Italian firms are already on the break of setting up Chinese manufacturing sites.

2) in Europe, legislations on piracy/fake productions is being reviewed. It is expected that within considerable time, the M90 isnt allowed to be manufactured by other companies than Knoll.

All the results are purely based on own analysis, there is absolutely no sponsorship involved.