These Furniture Designs Haven’t Been Seen for 50 Years—Until Now
In a legendary 1961 Playboy photoshoot, furniture design titans George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames, and Jens Risom pose next to their famed chair designs. One designer, however, was missing from the lineup. Paul McCobb—as legend has it—was too hung over from the previous night’s party to make it to the set. McCobb’s legacy, too, experienced a bit of a hangover going into the 21st century; modern design cognoscenti considered his furnishings too mass, and his name not canonical enough.
Times have changed. Recently, McCobb has attracted a devoted cadre of collectors willing to fork over thousands of dollars for the designer’s original chairs, cabinets, and side tables. And a new collaboration promises to further bring McCobb’s work into the spotlight.
Today, CB2 announced that it will be reissuing some two dozen original McCobb designs—the first American company to do so in more than half a century. The series includes outdoor furniture, lighting, and case goods that exude classic midcentury good looks while feeling utterly contemporary.
The McCobb collaboration, CB2 president Ryan Turf told ELLE Decor in an email, “gives us the opportunity to breathe new life into these legendary designs in a way that honors, preserves, and protects the authenticity and legacy of each piece while adding some modern, elevated materials and finishes to this latest collection.”
Like many McCobb lovers, CB2 executives rediscovered the designer’s work while vintage shopping. In 2019, they reached out to FORM Portfolios, a Copenhagen-based company that manages the archives of designers such as Risom and the Eameses. “With a shared interest in authentic design, it was a natural fit,” Turf explained.
Product designers at CB2 spent a year working with FORM, poring through McCobb’s archive and vintage magazines to determine which items might meld into present-day homes. Those pieces include a reissue of McCobb’s 1951 Pavilion outdoor collection, his Exposior lighting series of the same year, and Connoisseur, a svelte case goods line from 1954.
CB2 worked with FORM to ensure that the reissue maintained McCobb’s design integrity but made some practical upgrades where necessary, like swapping in new finishes and fabrics for durability. Other details—like the intricacies of lamp switches—remain exactly as they were 70 years ago. The company even subjected the prototypes to the ultimate test: McCobb collectors.
CB2 will continue to expand the series over the coming year, according to Turf, and the company said design aficionados can look forward to upcoming collaborations with other design legends. All are set to be instant classics—again.
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