Retro and vintage furniture
The trend towards furniture from past decades is unbroken. The terms vintage and retro are applied to anything that looks old or worn out. But not all vintage furniture is retro. Both refer to the past: the term vintage refers to the time the furniture was created; the term retro refers to its style, but is a newly manufactured product - for example, a coffee table in the shape of a kidney. If a piece of furniture was produced before 1920, it is antique and you can call it an antique or an original.
What does vintage mean?
The term Vintage probably originally comes from the grape harvest (French Vin = wine), but in the meantime it means exquisite, time-honoured or even excellent. Vintage thus refers to the high-quality vintage and is often associated with design classics from the 1920s to the 1980s. Especially for furniture, this term has been used for many years. Vintage refers to furniture that is at least forty years old and in good condition as opposed to "Shabby Chic" or "used look" - this is a trend that makes new furniture and its materials such as wood, brass and other metals look shabby and worn.
What does retro mean?
The term retro means the abbreviation of retrospective, is a recourse to the style of a past epoch. Armchairs, chairs, sofas, chests of drawers, desks, tables, shelves, stools and benches are newly manufactured. The manufacturer has relied on the famous designers of past decades and is now making new furniture. Or the design is something new, but uses the styles of past days and designers - typically 70s or something similar. Design icons such as the legendary Arne Jacobsen chairs by Fritz Hansen, the Thonet Coffee House Chair 214, the Knoll Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe or the Knoll Wassily Armchair by Marcel Breuer are design icons and have lost none of their appeal to this day. The chairs by designers Charles & Ray Eames, such as the Vitra DSW Eames Plastic Side Chair, are also "in" again and are often offered as cheap copies. One does not believe that this appealing seating furniture was developed in the 50s.
Retro in the pro office shop
In the pro office shop you will find numerous pieces of furniture in the style of past decades, including design classics and, of course, modern office furniture that meets ergonomic requirements. Retro furniture works best when it remains in one style in a room or is combined with modern furniture in individual cases. A side table in organic and curved shapes can set a counterpoint to a square chest of drawers with its curves. Many classics in the pro office shop have climbed the Design Olympus, and the USM Haller furniture system also has a permanent place in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.
