It seems nearly unbelievable that a piece of furniture as ubiquitous as the Louis Ghost chair is only celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Could it be that in as early as 2001 everybody went about their lives without gazing upon its polycarbonate mug in art galleries, opera houses, and Elle Decor? Well it's true. French design juggernaut Philippe Starck (he of Lenny Kravitz collabs and swanky hotel redesigns) created the piece in 2002.
So what does Kartell, which manufactures the chair, give its favorite child to celebrate? A dramatic campaign celebrating its birth; as part of the fanfare, the Italian design house is hosting nearly 30 parties at its flagship stores, corralling photos of the Louis XV-inspired piece across the globe, and lauding the chair as a design icon via animated video, below. It's all a touch theatrical, sure, but, at 1.5M sold, the Louis Ghost chair is the most widely sold high-design chair in the world and Kartell's absolute bestseller, so it may actually deserve all this praise.
For those who don't speak French, the tagline at the end is as follows: "It's a Louis-something. A kind of ghost, a ghost of Louis. You don't know exactly what it is, but everyone recognizes him." It's a paraphrase of what Starck said as he was introducing the chair in the early-aughts. Starck also said in his pitch that the chair "is half disappearing, dematerialising. Like all the production of our civilisation." See? The chair was meant for high-brow drama since its inception.
· All Philippe Starck Coverage [Curbed National]
· Louis Ghost - The Iconic Chair [YouTube]
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