Vitra

Founded in 1950 as a family-owned company, Vitra is a Swiss company that makes up a part of the Turkish Eczacibasi Group which has produced tiles and sanitary ceramics and distributed these globally since 1942. The name similarity with the brand name vitra. is coincidental; both companies developed entirely separately from one another. A friendly exchange presently exists between both companies, but there are no commercial links.

Vitra sees designers not simply as contractors but as authors. The relationship of trust between these authors from all corners of the world and Vitra, who share their ambitions, sits at the very heart of the company’s product development process. Collaborations are always a subtle synthesis of artistic freedom, production know-how and industry knowledge. This philosophy has shaped the company’s culture since its early partnerships with seminal designers like Charles & Ray Eames and George Nelson.

Their mission statement: Vitra is a company dedicated to improving the quality of homes, offices and public spaces through the power of design. Creating innovative products and concepts with great designers is Vitra’s essence. They are developed in Switzerland and installed worldwide by architects, companies and private users to build inspirational spaces for living, working and shopping – as well as public areas.

With its classics, Vitra represents groundbreaking 20th century design. Few other Créma brands can boast so many classically iconic pieces. Today, in combining technical and conceptual expertise with the creativity of contemporary designers, Vitra seeks to continue pushing the boundaries of the design discipline.

A family business for eighty years, Vitra believes in lasting relationships with customers, employees and designers, durable products, sustainable growth and the power of good design. The Vitra Campus with buildings by some of the world’s leading architects and the Vitra Design Museum with its exhibitions on design and architecture, design archives and a comprehensive furniture collection are all part of Vitra. They inspire visitors, inform the design process and create an atmosphere in which innovation flourishes.

At Vitra, it goes without saying that furniture is valuable when its production, utilisation and recycling does not harm people or the environment. Following in the tradition of Charles & Ray Eames, who have influenced Vitra’s approach to sustainability in many ways, the capacity for product longevity is central to the company’s contribution to sustainable development and short-lived methods are avoided at all costs. This can be seen most clearly in the classical pieces of furniture that had been used for decades, had several owners and then end up as a part of a collection.

For Vitra, the manufacture of sustainable products means intense pre-production development, where the highest-grade materials are selected and tests are carried out that simulate 15 years of use. Individual components should be easy to replace and ultimately recycled. In order to enforce and monitor sustainable development in all business activities of the company, a work group was formed in 1986 by the name of “Vitra and the Environment”. Because of this, Vitra can proudly claim that it has been dedicated to sustainability for more than a quarter of a century.

One would be remiss not to take a look at some of Vitra’s historic pieces, such as the Cite lounge chair, the Mariposa sofa, the Softshell chair and the La Chaise Lounge Chair.

They also produce more contemporary interior design pieces, such as the Slow Chair and Ottoman, the Butterfly stool, the Trapeze table and the Vegetal outdoor chair.