Hi Guys,
I have a pair of Alexander Girard chairs which need totally re-upholstering and as there is not a massive amount of info on them and very few colour photos around of them I thought the design addict community might help out.
I was thinking a bright raspberry on the inside and Girard black and white checker on the outside.
Any suggestions or images you have would be really appreciated!
They're currently a dirty yellow fabric on the inside and purple on the backs. They originally came from Braniff Airlines (still with original Braniff Airline Property tags on!) so I don't if I should stick to these colours?
The image makes them look a million times better than they are. All the foam has gone hard and crumbled away.
If I had a pair of Girard original chairs
in the condition of yours, I wouldn't touch them. Roughly 50% of the value of the chair is the original fabric.
The only reason anyone would ever want to remove an original Girard color scheme is because the fabric or vinyl or leather is torn, worn or damaged.
to reupholster a perfectly good condition Girard chair just because you don't like the color choices is insane.
Reply to Barry
The chairs are in bad condition one has cig burns in the back and one has worn through on the arm, both are stained across the seat.
All this I could live with but the foam has gone rock solid and fallen apart.
The photos make them look a million times better than they actually are.
Trust me if they didn't need doing I wouldn't be spending any more money on them!
The book does have his furnit...
The book does have his furniture as well. The furniture is completely surrounded by endless pages of his fabrics, but that's bc the furniture was such a small part of his work.
There are plenty of photos that will help you know exactly what to do. I would outright copy one of the fabric combos. Some of them are even 3 and 4 tone - two different shades of one hue for front and back, with the checker for the seat, and another color for the piping. You can get no better than his color and pattern choices. This is a situation where outright copying is crucial!
I agree recovering can lower the value, but if they are in a poor state I would recover/refoam as well. I would prefer to be able to enjoy them as intended. A cruddy vintage rare piece is only good for museums, which by the way, you could see if you could fetch some $$$$ for them. Otherwise, make them enjoyable and as close to Girard's original aesthetic as possible!
Then, Case, you're right
Get 'em redone.
Here's a suggestion; do the outsides in a solid hopsack wool and do the inside with geniune Girard Maharam fabric...duplicating the color scheme that these chairs might've had.
For example, tan outter fabric and inside Maharam black and grey check....the kind of wonderfully bizarre colors Girard often used.
Most of the Girard Branif furniture pieces are rare to point of being nearly museum pieces and I would do some research and come up with a color scheme that looks like one of the originals.
You're darn lucky to have 'em.
Stay true to the original design. -Please!!! !
I would definitely copy one of the original color combos for these chairs. The chairs are so rare that I wouldn't mess around with even the smallest detail.
I think you should stay with the original color combination of the chairs, since this is one of the combos that Girard himself choose for the Braniff company. Since your chair still have the original Braniff tags, I think anything but staying with the original would seriously decrease the value over a period of years.
People do all kinds of changes to the Eames shell chairs, but those chairs were made in huge quantities and will never be as rare as the Girard chairs. Only the early examples of the Eames chairs will continue to gain value, while the Girard chairs are destined to become true collectors items (they already are of course, but I don't think they have reached their real potential yet...)
I would go as far as to suggest that you try to find original vintage Herman Miller fabric for your chairs.
What you have is simply a piece of history... Great chairs!
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com