As announced in our latest newsletter, our seasonal lighting promotion is imminent.
Lighter Prices coincides with the clocks going back, marking the end of British Summer Time. To fend off the winter blues, we are offering 15% off orders of selected classic and contemporary lighting from 14th October to 5th November.
We also have a host of new lighting designs in-store and online to inspire you, from dramatic contemporary chandeliers and iconic modernist floor lights….
… to playful portable rechargeable lights in a variety of hues and classic table lamps with a distinguished design pedigree…
… and much more besides.
You can view the newsletter and our round-up of the latest designs to arrive in-store and online here.
And for further inspiration, view the full array of lighting designs presented on our website.
To ensure you receive first notice of this and all our other sale events, subscribe to our newsletter here.
twentytwentyone celebrated the launch of the Robin Day Centenary Edition at its River Street showroom last night.
The company has marked the centenary of Robin Day‘s birth with a very special edition of one of his most iconic designs: the Reclining chair. A select group of ten British Designers have been invited to cover the chair in a fabric of their chosing; the result is a fondly respectful tribute to a designer who continues to inspire and influence, and to a timeless piece of design.
Speaking at the event, Paula Day (daughter of Robin and Lucienne Day and founder of the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation) said: “When I first saw the list of designers involved I realised that this would be such a thoughtful response to my father’s work.
The fact that all ten designers instantly agreed to take part says a great deal about their generosity of spirit and their respect both for my father and for twentytwentyone. It is a wonderfully creative compliment to my father and I know he would have loved the fact that ten such distinguished designers are paying tribute to a design that he developed in his 30s.”
Paula Day noted how many of the designers had referenced Day’s love of mountains and outdoor activities in their choice of fabrics for the Reclining chair, saying: “I have been particularly moved to see designers refer to my father’s passions beyond of the world of design. These allusions to the other dimensions that made up the man I knew are very touching.”
The contributing designers are Barber & Osgerby, Ilse Crawford, Tom Dixon, Martino Gamper, Kenneth Grange, Matthew Hilton, Margaret Howell, Michael Marriot, Jasper Morrison and Terence Woodgate.
Terence Woodgate, pictured above, said of his choice of fabric: “that fact that it is called Outback seems appropriate for a man who enjoyed the wilderness.”
Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby revealed that they had been inspired by a photograph which showed Robin Day in his studio with a large panoramic photograph of a mountain range in the background, saying: “the colours we chose for the chair were in direct reference to the greens and greys of those snow-capped mountains.”
Michael Marriot said of his involvement in the Centenary Edition: “It feels a real privilege to be invited to make some small intervention with one of his pieces. My approach was to find something that – while contemporary – was totally at home with the feel of Robin’s chair and that had a similarly distinguished character and poise, like the man himself.”
Paula Day also revealed the unexpected resonance of one particular designer’s choice of fabric. The Mourne fabric selected by Margaret Howell had previously been used by Robin and Lucienne Day to cover another chair that stood in their Cheyne Walk home – Day’s High Wide and Handsome chair, described by Paula Day as “a great hug of a chair.”
The Robin Day Centenary Edition Reclining chair is exclusive to twentytwentyone.
All ten chairs are currently on display at the River Street showroom and can be viewed online.
Robin Day was born 100 years ago on May 25, 1915. To mark his centenary, twentytwentyone has collaborated with a select group of designers to compose an editorial of one of Robin’s enduring furniture designs, the Reclining chair, and pay homage to one of Britain’s most gifted and industrious designers.
Day designed the Reclining chair in 1952.
Reflecting on his work half a century later, he considered it to be amongst his most successful products, noting that it was ‘an early design showing a clearly articulated structure. The slim steel rod frame cradles a shaped upholstered unit and timber arms which can also serve as shelves for glasses, etc.’ (Robin Day, 2007)
The Reclining chair is produced by twentytwentyone in the UK, licensed and endorsed by the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation.
Now, twentytwentyone has invited ten of the UK’s foremost designers to upholster the Reclining chair in a textile of their choosing.
The contributing designers are Barber Osgerby, Ilse Crawford, Tom Dixon, Martino Gamper, Kenneth Grange, Matthew Hilton, Margaret Howell, Michael Marriot, Jasper Morrison and Terence Woodgate.
Each has faced the challenge of choosing a textile that that appeals to their own personal design criteria while resonating with the chair’s original spirit and character – and perhaps also drawing a smile from Robin in the process. The results are an enlightening union of classic and contemporary and a respectful tribute to a great designer.
The Reclining chair Centenary Design Edit will be launched on 1st July with an installation of the ten designs at the twentytwentyone showroom, and will be available to order following the launch. In keeping with Robin’s philosophies, these will not be limited or up-charged, and are priced purely to reflect the cost of the material.
The twentytwentyone initiative forms part of the 2015 Robin Day Centenary Celebrations which will culminate in a number of London Design Festival events, including a Robin Day exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
