New furniture brand Typ brings historical design into the present

Design consultants Helen Thonet and Florian Lambl present Typ, a new furniture brand elevating historical designs through collaborations with contemporary creatives. With backgrounds in historical design and art direction respectively, Thonet and Lambl joined forces three years ago to explore what was missing from the current furniture panorama. 

‘We both know the industry, with Helen having expertise in design history and the past, and Florian being an authority on the present,’ they say. ‘This gave us a clear idea of how a furniture brand should look in the future.’

Bridging past and future

The inaugural collection features a chair and lounge seat designed in the 1920s by Bauhaus legend Erich Dieckmann, a 1930s tubular steel chair originally made by Practical Equipment (PEL) and now re-engineered by Jasper Morrison, and a Cini Boeri sofa that was the late Italian architect’s last design project, created in 2019.

Typ also worked with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation to exclusively release three pieces by Josef Albers: an iconic lounge chair from 1928, as well as a 1930 daybed and a pouf – the first time that furniture by the Bauhaus designer is accessible to a broad audience. 

Contemporary pieces feature in the brand’s debut too, among them an aluminium chair by Austrian designer Klemens Schillinger inspired by outdoor bistro chairs, and a graphic art collection by art director Mike Meiré. 

Classic and contemporary furniture made affordable

Most great designs, observed Typ’s founders, are sold at a premium price, indirectly encouraging a market based on replicas. With its pricing, they explain, they hope to take away the need to search for the cheaper imitation of an original. Starting from these premises, Thonet and Lambl found great designs from the past, which formed the basis for Typ, with the aim to ‘bring design history into the future’.

The founders insist that Typ is not a ‘cheap’ brand. ‘We aim to bring great design at a price that is much more affordable than others on the market,’ they explain. ‘Typ products are designed for maximum efficiency in terms of materials and production time, we have almost endlessly optimised all the processes.’ Embracing a sustainable approach to manufacturing, they add, ‘we work with only FSC-certified suppliers, ensuring that all wood comes from responsibly managed forests, and all pieces are produced in Italy providing the highest craftsmanship’.

Following this launch, Thonet and Lambl plan to expand the brand into a wider lifestyle territory, and collaborate with other manufacturers. ‘For us, the moment is about relevance and connectedness.’

INFORMATION
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