Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.
ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.
Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini — a onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.
Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group, which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.
Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals.
After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.
On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.
Sculptural Pair of Fully Restored Post Modern Slipper Chairs in Leopard Velvet
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Get these while you can Pair of Post Modern Leopard Velvet Slipper Chairs fully restored with new foam cushions and new leopard velvet upholstery. Powerful and confident forward angl...
Upholstery, Velvet
Pair of Large Donghia Slipper Chairs Newly Upholstered in Ivory Tiger Velvet
Located in Saint Louis, MO
With all the many things one could do on these luxurious Donghia slipper chairs, lounging is most certainly one of them. Sit back go for a magic carpet ride in these shimmering tiger...
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
"Todo Modo" by Jean-Michel Wilmotte for Tecno Italy Reversible Chair
By Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Tecno
Located in Hanover, MA
Original vintage (not a re-edition) Todo Modo single slipper chair with completely reversible rotating cylindrical back. Designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte and...
Steel
Pair of 1980s Large Donghia Scroll Back Slipper Chairs in Original iKat Textile
Located in St. Louis, MO
The word Comfort comes to mind when sitting in these large scale circa 1980 plush and fully upholstered Angelo Donghia designed scroll back slipper chairs, with original Donghia desi...
Textile, Upholstery, Foam
Sculptural Slipper Lounge Chairs for Preview, 1990
By Preview
Located in Chicago, IL
Pair Vladimir Kagan slipper lounge chairs for Preview, 1990. Original upholstery.
Upholstery
$4,800 / set
Large Scale Pair of Post Modern Slipper Chairs
By Preview, Weiman Preview Furniture
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Incredible and large, pair of post modern slipper chairs on a plinth bases. These beauties truly have lines worth coveting. Kept as found, in their off white Damask stripe fabric. ...
Fabric
Adrian Pearsall Channeled Post Modern Slipper Chair in Ivory White Bouclé
By Comfort Designs, Inc., Adrian Pearsall
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Channeled and plush post modern chair designed by Adrian Pearsall for Comfort Designs, Inc. If you're seeking a chair to wind down and relax in - the sort you can sit in for hours and enjoy - this is it. Every inch of this slipper chair is soft, upholstered and well cushioned. A modern space odyssey look with a channeled seat...
Upholstery, Bouclé
Adrian Pearsall Channeled Post Modern Slipper Chairs in Ivory White Bouclé
By Comfort Design Furniture, Adrian Pearsall
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Pair of channeled Post Modern slipper chairs designed by Adrian Pearsall for Comfort Designs, Inc. If you're seeking chairs to wind down and relax in - the sort you can sit in for ho...
Upholstery, Bouclé
Ward Bennett for Brickel Black Ash Scissor Lounge Chairs, Red Wool Bouclé, 1984
By Ward Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Ward Bennett for Brickel Assoc. Black ash scissor lounge chair pair, set of two, red wool bouclé, 1984, New York. Black lacquered ash, red wool upholstery, metal tags to each. Ward Bennett’s story is a remarkable one. His career began at age 13, when he quit school to work in the garment district in New York City. At 15, he designed his first clothing collection; at 16 he left for Europe, where he continued working on fashion design. While in Europe, he attended art schools in Florence and Paris, but he was mostly self-taught, with skills that ranged from illustrating, sculpting, and jewelry-making to furniture, interior, and home design. “I learn from people,” he once said, referencing a long line of influences, including Hattie Carnegie, Hans Hoffman, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Bennett eventually settled back in New York, where his reputation earned him some of the day’s most affluent clients: David Rockefeller and Chase Manhattan Bank, Tiffany & Co., Sasaki, Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner. Another—former President Lyndon Baines Johnson—asked Bennett to design a chair for his presidential library that would be “a cross between a barroom chair and a courtroom chair...
Wool, Ash
Geometri Slipper Chair by Verner Panton for Innovation Randers, Denmark, 1990s
Located in Izegem, VWV
A rare 1990s slipper chair with Verner Panton's grey Geometri fabric (the famous Geometri fabric was designed in 1960). The chair was produced under license by Innovation Denmark whi...
Steel
Pierre Paulin Floral Velvet "Concorde" Lounge Chairs for Artifort, 1970s
Located in Coronado, CA
Spring has sprung with these adorable "Concorde" lounge chairs designed by Pierre Paulin for Artifort in the 1970s. These early examples sport the uncommon black lacquered metal base...
Aluminum
Ward Bennett for Brickel Black Ash Scissor Lounge Chair, Red Wool Bouclé, 1984
By Ward Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Ward Bennett for Brickel Assoc. black Ash Scissor Lounge Chair, Red Wool Bouclé, 1984, New York. Black lacquered ash, red wool upholstery, metal tags to each. Ward Bennett’s story is a remarkable one. His career began at age 13, when he quit school to work in the garment district in New York City. At 15, he designed his first clothing collection; at 16 he left for Europe, where he continued working on fashion design. While in Europe, he attended art schools in Florence and Paris, but he was mostly self-taught, with skills that ranged from illustrating, sculpting, and jewelry-making to furniture, interior, and home design. “I learn from people,” he once said, referencing a long line of influences, including Hattie Carnegie, Hans Hoffman, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Bennett eventually settled back in New York, where his reputation earned him some of the day’s most affluent clients: David Rockefeller and Chase Manhattan Bank, Tiffany & Co., Sasaki, Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner. Another—former President Lyndon Baines Johnson—asked Bennett to design a chair for his presidential library that would be “a cross between a barroom chair and a courtroom chair...
Wool, Ash
80s Slipper Chair from Century Furniture Newly Redone in Alexander Girard Check
Located in Portage, MI
Vintage dated 1985 Billy Baldwin style postmodern slipper chair from century furniture newly upholstered in Alexander Girard black and white mini check. Tag and date still left on the inside. This checkered chair...
Fabric
Vintage Post-Modern Gold Mohair Slipper Chairs on Brass Ball Feet - Set of 4
Located in Chicago, IL
Vintage Post-Modern Redesigned Gold Mohair Slipper Chairs on Oversized Brass Ball Feet - 4 Piece Set Vintage set of 4 slipper chairs in origi...
Brass
Three-Seater Sofa 'Togo' by Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset
By Ligne Roset, Michel Ducaroy
Located in Los Angeles, CA
wonderful cognac colored aniline leather 3-seater from the "Togo" series, designed by Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset, France, 1973. This piece has been professionally reupholstered a...
Leather
$1,895 / set
H 31.5 in W 20 in D 19 in
Hollywood Regency Era French Style Painted Slipper Chairs In Cut Velvet -Pair
Located in Kennesaw, GA
This is a pair of Hollywood Regency Era Italian slipper chairs newly upholstered in a cut velvet. The frame is an ivory paint with gilt accents. The wood has a general wear. They are...
Upholstery, Wood
Needlepoint Upholstered Slipper Chair
Located in Kittery Point, ME
Of typical form, raised on legs ending in casters.
Wood, Fabric
$6,800
H 34.5 in W 24 in D 31 in
1960's Modern Sabre Legs Mahogany Slipper Chairs In Velvet Upholstery
Located in New York, NY
Amazing pair of 1960's mid-century modern sabre legs mahogany slipper chairs, fully restored and re-upholstered in velvet, with minor wear and patina due to age and use.
Velvet, Mahogany
Pair of Curvaceous 1940s Slipper Chairs
Located in Atlanta, GA
Pair of Curvaceous Slipper Chairs, in the manner of William "Billy" Haines, American, circa 1940's. They are currently being refinished and r...
Upholstery, Wood
Slipper Chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar Janus Collection
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
Stylish and elegant slipper chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar ca' 1950's. Upholstered in Fret custom Italian silk velvet, luxurious to the touch, (samples available). Chocolate bra...
Mahogany
Pair of Slipper Chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar
By Dunbar Furniture, Edward Wormley
Located in Middlesex, NJ
Pair of slipper chairs by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Chairs are reupholstered in a Maharam Mohair.
$2,320Sale Price / set|20% Off
H 35 in W 28 in D 28.5 in
Pair of Hollywood Regency Channel Back Slipper Chairs
Located in Pasadena, TX
Pair of Hollywood Regency Channel back slipper chair. Regency style chairs with channel backs. Cabriole Queen Anne legs. They have a bowed front and are very well made. Reuphols...
Fabric
$2,850 / set
H 32.75 in W 22.5 in D 31 in
Donghia Pair of Slipper Lounge Chairs designed by John Hutton Mid Century Style
By Donghia, John Hutton
Located in Atlanta, GA
Pair of Low Slung Slipper Lounge Chairs, designed by John Hutton for Donghia, American, circa 2000s.
Upholstery, Wood
$3,900 / set
H 30.5 in W 23.75 in D 25 in
Pair of Vintage Modern Barcelona Style Slipper Lounge Chairs
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A stunning midcentury design with heavy flat bar chrome bases and tufted upholstery. The "X" shaped sides and angled seats ensure maximum comfort without sacrificing style. This eleg...
Chrome
$2,404 / set
H 29.14 in W 20.48 in D 23.23 in
Set of Six P08 Folding Chairs by Justus Kolberg for Tecno, Italy
By Tecno, Kolberg Justus
Located in Boven Leeuwen, NL
Tecno P08 by Justus Kolberg in brushed stainless steel and black nylon Name: P08 folding chair designer: Justus Kolberg manufacturer: Tecno, Italy d...
Stainless Steel
1940s French Tufted Back Slipper Chair
Located in Buchanan, NY
An exquisite 1940s French tufted slipper chair. This tufted high back slipper chair is a beautiful piece of French furniture from the 20th century. Upholstered in a light peach satin...
Upholstery
Post Modern Rounded Slipper Chairs - Set of 2
Located in Clarksboro, NJ
This listing is for a pair of Post Modern Rounded Kagan Style Slipper Chairs. Featuring an armless design, rounded front/back, and original black stripe upholstery. This is an except...
Upholstery
Sold
H 28 in W 24 in D 34 in
Pair 1980s Postmodern Modern Brown Upholstered Curled Back Parson Slipper Chairs
Located in Stafford, TX
These postmodern chairs feature a sculptural and modular design, reflecting the bold, unconventional aesthetics of the late 20th century. Upholstered in a rich brown textured fabric,...
Upholstery
1970s/1980s Leopard Slipper Chair
Located in Nashville, TN
Fluffy leopard print slipper chair feels like your favorite stuffy. Chair is in excellent condition for its age with minimal, if any, signs of wear. Dimensions: Seat width: 31" Seat...
Polyester
Sold
H 28 in W 28 in D 36 in
Sculptural Pair of Fully Restored Post Modern Slipper Chairs in Leopard Velvet
Located in Saint Louis, MO
Get these while you can Pair of Post Modern Leopard Velvet Slipper Chairs fully restored with new foam cushions and new leopard velvet upholstery. Powerful and confident forward angl...
Upholstery, Velvet
Pair of 1980s Marge Carson Slipper Chairs
By Marge Carson
Located in Dallas, TX
Lovely, upscale pair of 1980s slipper chairs designed by Marge Carson, California. Loose seat cushions with attached back cushions. Good condition, fabric is faded with age, but they...
Fabric
Sold
H 28 in W 24 in D 35 in
Pair of 1970s Slipper Parsons floral velvet lounge chairs Style of Milo Baughman
By Milo Baughman, Jack Lenor Larsen
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Pair of Post Modern 1970s Tan and Brown Floral upholstered Parsons Slipper lounge Chairs in the Style of Milo Baughman. Beautiful Velvet Floral upholstery in very good condition in t...
Velvet
American Designer, Slipper Chairs, Rattan, Velvet, USA, 1970s
Located in High Point, NC
A pair of rattan and green velvet fabric slipper lounge chairs designed and produced in the US, c. 1970s. Seat height: 18” Reupholstered in brand new velvet.
Velvet, Rattan
Bullnose Postmodern Slipper Chairs by Carson’s of High Point
By Carsons
Located in Chicago, IL
c. 1980s. Price is for the set. Contact us if you’d like to purchase a single item. Reupholstered in nubby Boucle from Fishman’s Fabrics.
Bouclé
Pair of Vintage 1980s hunter green floral slipper chairs
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Custom made slipper chairs built for the iconic Bullock’s department store c. 1980s. Subtly arched back Jewel tone colors Pair of matching pillows Upholstered bun feet Heavy an...
Fabric
Le Bambole Slipper Chair, Mario Bellini for B&B Italia
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Designed in 1972 by industrial designer Mario Bellini for C&B Italia. With the intention to mimic an overstuffed pillow resting on the floor. There was no foam available that could p...
Leather, Foam
Orange Postmodern Chair Attributed to Vladimir Kagan for Preview
Located in Chicago, IL
Made by Preview in North Carolina. Reupholstered in Kvadrat felt wool fabric.
Wool, Felt
Sold
H 27.56 in W 27.96 in D 31.11 in
Roberto Lucci and Paolo Orlandini for Elam Pair of 'Farfalla' Lounge Chairs
By Roberto Lucci & Paolo Orlandini, Elam
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Roberto Lucci and Paolo Orlandini for Elam, pair of lounge chairs model 'Le Farfalla', lacquered metal, fabric, plastic, Italy, desig...
Steel