Regardless of your position on the re-edition they are a firmly established feature of the international furniture industry.
Arguably have in recent years have become a, the, key pillar of that industry.
With thoughts from Milan and Copenhagen still fresh, our colleagues from smow reflect on the contemporary re-ediction.......
We may not live like we did 50 years ago, but we seem to enjoy decorating our homes that way. Anyone who strolled through Milan during Design Week 2025 or 3daysofdesign Copenhagen could hardly avoid one topic: re-editions. Everywhere classic designs reissued, reimagined and recontextualized: re-editions with attitude, with a message, with sensitivity for the present and history.
What's driving the current hype surrounding reissues? Is it simply style nostalgia? Or is there a deeper movement behind it?
Sure, the reunion with well-known icons evokes emotions. But many current reissues go beyond mere revival – they question, adapt, remaster. The best example: Cassina, which, for the 60th anniversary of its i Maestri collection, wrapped the Fauteuil Grand Confort by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand in red velvet. A deliberate irritation – or rather, a design commentary on our present.
Because that's precisely what "cultural commentary" means: When a design classic is reissued today—in a different colour, with different materials, or in a new context—more than a copy is created. The reissue poses questions about the original: Why was it considered modern back then? How relevant is it today? And what does it say now, under changed conditions, about our contemporary ideas of home decor, sustainability, or aesthetics?
Such reissues are not mere reproductions — they are reflections in furniture form.
Other brands are also demonstrating the scope for archival and contemporary design. Hay presented several re-editions this year: the Amanta sofa, the X-Line Chair (originally 1977) and the Rey Chair (1971), two designs that remain distinctive both formally and functionally – yet still appear fresh in their materials and colour scheme.
Things get even more exciting when reissues are considered not only aesthetically but also ethically. In 2024, Jonathan Olivares, Design Director at Knoll International, took on the legendary Barcelona Chair. Instead of chrome, it was now painted steel, and instead of leather draped in fabric – a decision that responds to sustainability issues as well as new living needs. The goal: to bring the chair back into the home, away from anonymous corporate lobbies.
The fact that reissues now extend far beyond the field of design is demonstrated by the collaboration with the fashion industry. Take Jil Sander, for example, who teamed up with Thonet to create an elegant reissue of the famous cantilever chair by Marcel Breuer – celebrated primarily in Milan. The alliance between fashion and interior design is no coincidence. Both disciplines deal with the body, space and time. And both are currently reinventing themselves: more sustainable, more conscious, more durable.
Re-editions demonstrate that design history is not a closed chapter, but a living resonance space. The icons of the 20th century are not just being revived – they are being rewritten. Often precisely, sometimes playfully, always with a new perspective.
Whether this represents a trend or a profound design development is hard to say. Perhaps it's both. Like an old Beatles record that, when remastered, suddenly reveals unexpected details – familiar yet changed.
Re-editions invite us to listen more closely. And to look more closely.
