Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1521218
The Future is Now By Rebecca Sherman V ladimir Kagan's earliest designs — a table and chair he designed for his parents' house in 1947 — were relaunched in April, eight years to the month after his death in 2016 at age 88. The First Table and Chair's thin, flared legs evoke the wide- legged stance of a fawn or foal, elements that influenced Kagan's designs for decades. Versions of these pieces were sold at the first Kagan store in New York City and phased out in 1950. These archetypes of Kagan's early avant-garde designs are among the many reissues to come out of Vladimir Kagan Design Group — now part of the Holly Hunt portfolio — and something that Chris Eitel, Kagan's longtime protégé and the company's director of design and production, felt was important. "I wanted to let the past inform where the company was going before trying my own new designs," he says. The Forward Collection, launched in 2022, is his first step in moving the brand onward with pieces that embody both Kagan's design ethos and his own concepts. The collection feels as fresh as it does familiar. At first glance, the Big Picture Sofa's double-crescent form appears to nest, but it actually cantilevers from the back, a feat of engineering that would have delighted Kagan, who was known for his mastery of ergonomics and sculptural approach to furniture. And Eitel's curved Lucite Bienenstock coffee table has an inset with a floating storage box that defies logic. "Those aspects are what Vladi would call a magical moment in design," he says. Vladimir Kagan's avant-garde furniture designs live on, under the guidance of his longtime protégé, Chris Eitel. Big Picture sofa from The Forward Collection, launched 2022 (Continued)