Ninety designers, artists and architects let their imaginations run wild for a charitable cause. They were invited to reimagine the Ernest Race BA2 chair to benefit the Art Room, a children's charity with a chair-themed logo. Some of the featured artisans include Lulu Lytle, founder and creative director of Soane Britain; Paul Smith; model Cara Delevingne in collaboration with Storm Athill; Patrick Hughes; Tom Dixon; Joseph Kosuth and Langlands & Bell.
Lulu Lytle's "The Flying Chair" is among the 90 chairs on exhibit in Selfridges.
The 90 chairs are hanging from the atrium ceiling on display in Selfridges, London, until June 14, and were auctioned off in a June 9 sale on Paddle 8 to support the Art Room. The Art Room provides art therapy to children and young people to encourage self-esteem and independence, and it targets a population identified as requiring special time away from their classes due to educational interruptions, learning disabilities or autism spectrum disorders.
Chairs transformed by Paul Smith, Langlands & Bell and Cara Delevingne with Storm Athill
“My first thought on being invited to design a chair that would hang in the Selfridges Atrium was flight,” says Lytle, whose handwoven rattan-winged chair was painted in Selfridges' signature yellow color. The rattan used in the chair’s wings was crafted by the last remaining rattan workshop, which is owned by Soane.
The chairs, which were provided by Race Furniture, were designed in 1945 by Ernest Race, and the design was the only British chair to win the Gold Medal in the Milan Triennale in 1954.
