Vintage Floor Lamp Design Pierre Cardin for Sciolari, 1970s

Best known for creating groundbreaking fashion designs from the 1950s onward, Pierre Cardin enjoyed great success in other design fields, most notably furniture. Cardin’s chairs, cabinets, tables and other pieces share many of the keynotes of his clothing designs. They are simple, geometric, elegant and cool.

Cardin was born in a village near Venice, Italy, and raised in central France. Always interested in fashion, he left home at age 17 to train with a Vichy tailor. After the end of World War II, Cardin moved to Paris and worked for a succession of couture houses, before taking a job with Christian Dior in 1946. Cardin went solo in 1950, and quickly won attention for his novel style.

Unlike Dior’s famous New Look, Cardin’s clothes de-emphasized a woman’s curves; his breakthrough pieces like the Bubble dress had, instead, a sculptural quality. In the following decade, Cardin introduced bright tunic dresses and shifts, marketed as the Space Age look and accessorized with vinyl hats and visors.

In the 1970s Cardin expanded his design work into furniture, jewelry and automobiles. (Later, licensing agreements would put Cardin’s name on goods ranging from perfume to sunglasses.) Cardin’s furniture pieces — inspired, perhaps, by the rediscovery of Art Deco design in that decade — feature simple, symmetrical forms, lacquer and figured veneer finishes, and accents in metals such as aluminum and brass.

Whether you are looking for a vintage cocktail dress or a chest of drawers to keep it in, as you will see on 1stDibs, Pierre Cardin offers an option in either that is timelessly chic.

Sciolari Lighting was the first Italian lighting company to sell its pieces in the United States. Its luminous work spanned decades of styles and innovative designs, including striking chandeliers, table lamps and wall lights. 

Italian designer Angelo Gaetano Sciolari took over his family’s lighting company after his father’s death in 1949. He had studied architecture and was previously pursuing a career as a film director. In the 1950s, Sciolari became an in-house designer for Italian entrepreneur and designer Bruno Gatta and his lighting manufacturing company Stilnovo. 

By the late 1960s, Sciolari was using his own manufacturing company in combination with Lightolier to reach the American market. His 1970s designs are considered among his best work, including the Cubic Chandelier and other pieces from his Cubic Series, which featured in popular American television shows such as Dallas.

A talented designer, Sciolari preferred using crystal and glass with polished metals, including unconventional combinations like brass and chrome. He crossed many design styles and drew influence from art movements including Cubism, Deconstructivism and Minimalism. His later work, in collaboration with S.A. Boulanger and Stilkronen, involved Hollywood Regency-style fixtures, while his 1970s work reflected Art Deco influences and Space Age aesthetics.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Sciolari Lighting chandeliers and pendants, floor lamps, table lamps and more.