{"id":10023453,"date":"2026-02-23T16:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/a-story-of-its-own\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T17:10:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:10:44","slug":"design-vitra-anatomy-of-design-company-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/design-vitra-anatomy-of-design-company-book\/","title":{"rendered":"A story of its own"},"content":{"rendered":"

For decades, Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra<\/a> has played a significant role in the development and dissemination of modern design. Yet its evolution was not the result of a linear, carefully orchestrated branding strategy<\/a>, but of entrepreneurial decisions, cultural curiosity, and long-term convictions. What began as a shopfitting company was gradually transformed by Willi and Erika Fehlbaum into an internationally operating furniture manufacturer. The chronicle \u00bbVitra \u2013 Anatomy of a Design Company<\/a>,\u00ab published by Phaidon, traces this trajectory through previously unpublished conversations and extensive archival material.<\/p>\n

THE BEGINNING<\/p>\n

A pivotal moment in Vitra\u2019s early history was Willi Fehlbaum\u2019s encounter with the designs of Charles and Ray Eames<\/a> in the 1950s. During a trip to New York, he discovered the innovative fiberglass chairs in the Herman Miller showroom and was particularly struck by the technical ingenuity of the \u201cshock mount\u201d connection. Herman Miller, one of the leading American furniture manufacturers of postwar modernism, held the international production rights to these designs. Fehlbaum therefore approached the company to establish a licensing agreement for Europe. Vitra subsequently began manufacturing and distributing selected designs by Charles and Ray Eames, as well as George Nelson, across the European market.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Images
\u00a9 Courtesy Vitra, photo by Maurice Scheltens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

In continuous production: The complete range of designs by Charles and Ray Eames.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nelson, a key figure in American Mid-Century Modern, had served as Design Director at Herman Miller since 1945, shaping the company\u2019s design direction for decades. In this role, he helped define its program and worked closely with designers such as Charles and Ray Eames and Isamu Noguchi<\/a>. For Vitra, the partnership with Herman Miller marked a decisive transition from a regional enterprise to an internationally operating design manufacturer.<\/p>\n

\"Images
\u00a9 Phaidon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the partnership with Herman Miller was amicably concluded in 1984, Vitra secured the rights to manufacture and distribute the designs of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, and Alexander Girard in Europe and the Middle East. Girard\u2014an architect and designer known for his distinctive use of color, textiles, and graphic expression\u2014shaped the emotional and visual dimension of American modernism as head of Herman Miller\u2019s textile division from the 1950s onward.
\nWith the acquisition of these rights, Vitra entered a new phase, increasingly positioning itself as an independent brand and refining its identity beyond that of a licensed producer.<\/p>\n

THE NEW BEGINNING<\/p>\n

A devastating fire in 1981, which destroyed large parts of the factory in Weil am Rhein, paradoxically marked a new beginning for the company. In its aftermath, the Vitra Campus<\/i><\/a> began to take shape\u2014an ensemble of buildings by internationally renowned architects that reached an early milestone in 1989 with the opening of Frank Gehry\u2019s Vitra Design Museum<\/em>. From the outset, the museum was conceived not as a conventional corporate showcase, but as an independent institution, deliberately distancing itself from purely brand-driven exhibition formats. Collection-building, research, and public education became integral to the company\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Archive
\u00a9 Phaidon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the days when Vitra still had its own volunteer fire brigade, Zaha Hadid was commissioned to design a building that would house the fire engines and also provide social facilities for the firefighters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In parallel, Vitra developed new content-driven formats. With the Vitra Edition<\/em>\u2014featuring contributions by designers such as Frank Gehry, Shiro Kuramata, and Ron Arad\u2014the company positioned design explicitly as a cultural practice. The collaboration with Jean Prouv\u00e9 not only led to the reintroduction of historic pieces such as the 1930 Cit\u00e9<\/em> chair\u2014now the oldest design still in production in the collection\u2014but also prompted a renewed engagement with the constructive principles of the 20th century. Later projects, including the Joyn<\/em> system (2002) by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, inspired by the communal farmhouse table, reflected Vitra\u2019s responsiveness to evolving workplace dynamics and broader societal shifts.<\/p>\n

THE TRANSFORMATION<\/p>\n

With the founders\u2019 children joining the company\u2019s leadership, Vitra entered another phase of transformation. Rolf Fehlbaum, son of Willi and Erika Fehlbaum and a defining figure at the company\u2019s helm since the 1970s, further shaped Vitra\u2019s strategic and cultural direction and initiated the Vitra Design Museum<\/i>\u00a0in 1989. His daughter, Nora Fehlbaum, later assumed the role of CEO, representing a new generation of leadership. The acquisition of Artek<\/em><\/a> is described in the book as a strategically significant step; at the same time, it signals a new priority: \u00bbour generation\u2019s fingerprint is the environmental strategy.\u00ab Sustainability thus became an explicit part of the company\u2019s mission, alongside a broader outreach and the development of new digital formats.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Archive
\u00a9 Courtesy Vitra, photo by Tobias Mad\u00f6rin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The complete Vitra product range, presented outside Frank Gehry’s museum building in 2007.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Particularly striking is the book\u2019s reflection on collection-building and cultural responsibility. Rolf Fehlbaum emphasizes that museums often preserve innovative and even radical designs\u2014even when some of these pieces were initially dismissed as \u00bbflops\u00ab in the marketplace. The collection is conceived as a living organism, sustained by significant archives such as those of Charles and Ray Eames, Jean Prouv\u00e9, and Verner Panton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

THE VITRA WORLD<\/p>\n

Last but not least, the book explores the company\u2019s visual identity in depth. A brand, it argues, is not the result of artificial image-making but evolves organically from its inherent values and actions. In keeping with this view, Vitra has long combined product development with content-driven formats such as the \u00bbWorkspirit\u00abpublication series, which brings together interviews, architecture, and design. The \u00bbAtlas of Furniture Design<\/a>,\u00ab\u00a0published in 2019 and spanning more than 1,000 pages, further exemplifies this connection between research, design, and narrative\u2014significantly privileging images over text.<\/p>\n

\"Inside
\u00a9 Phaidon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vitra \u2013 Anatomy of a Design Company<\/em> is therefore far more than a corporate history. Numerous historically significant archival images, newly edited documents, and personal testimonies trace Vitra\u2019s evolution from a regional enterprise to an internationally connected design brand. Spanning 410 pages and featuring 300 color and 100 black-and-white illustrations, the publication interweaves industrial, architectural, and cultural history into a multifaceted panorama of modern design as seen through the lens of Vitra. [Ed.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\"book
\u00a9 Phaidon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vitra \u2013 The Anatomy of a Design Company
\nPublished by Phaidon
\nHardcover, <\/span>270mm x 215mm, 401 pages
\nvitra.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For decades, Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra has played a significant role in the development and dissemination of modern design. Yet its evolution was not the result of a linear, carefully orchestrated branding strategy, but of entrepreneurial decisions, cultural curiosity, and long-term convictions. What began as a shopfitting company was gradually transformed by Willi and Erika Fehlbaum into an internationally operating furniture manufacturer. The chronicle \u00bbVitra \u2013 Anatomy of a Design Company,\u00ab published by Phaidon, traces this trajectory through previously unpublished […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10023430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[409,336,348],"tags":[391,393],"class_list":["post-10023453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design","category-articles","category-latest","tag-bookshelf-en","tag-design-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10023453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10023453"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10023453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10023456,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10023453\/revisions\/10023456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10023430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10023453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10023453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapter.digital\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10023453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}