Precious Kartell: Philippe Starck Reimagines the Masters Chair

Designer Philippe Starck has transformed plastic into a precious with his glossy gold rendition of his Masters Chair for Kartell. This week, Kartell proudly unveiled the new coat of Starck's famed chair at Salone del Mobile 2014 in Milan. Kartell noted that the re-imagined chair draws from "precious, noble and sophisticated material, while allowing it to retain its nature as an industrial material.” 

Originally designed in 2009, the Masters was formed by layering the shapes of classic chairs by three design masters; the outlines of the ’Series 7’ by Arne Jacobsen, ‘Eiffel Chair’ by Charles Eames and ‘Tulip Armchair’ by Eero Saarinen are rendered in three dimensions to form the supporting back of the seat.

“We want to focus attention in coming years even more on quality and preciousness, on the glamor and ‘luxury’ of Kartell plastics, presented with brand-new, exclusive and glossy metal finishes in gold, bronze, silver, gunmetal grey, and copper. Some of Kartell’s best sellers will glisten with these new metallic finishes: Masters, Componibili, Jelly, Matelassé, Shanghai, and Dune.” Kartell explained. Translation: we'll be seeing a lot more gold dusted on Kartell classics in the future.

Photography courtesy of Kartell