Habitat brings back archive “classics” for 60th anniversary collection

British furniture retailer Habitat has revealed its 60th-anniversary collection, which features collaborations with emerging designers alongside revived archive pieces like the chicken brick.

Furniture and homeware by established designers such as Sebastian Conran, Felix Conran, Margo Selby and Tord Boontje feature in Habitat’s colourful 60 Years of Design collection, alongside work by newer talent such as furniture makers Planq, ceramicist Silvia Kamodyová, and artist and designer Simone Brewster.

Creations by the in-house design team and re-released classics also feature in the collection from the brand, which is an icon of British affordable design but has had a tumultuous recent history of buy-outs and store closures.

Among the revived archive products is Habitat designer James Cottingham’s Poulet chicken brick, a contemporary reinterpretation of the brand’s 1964 ceramic oven dish for steam cooking – a classic from Habitat’s first year in business.

Also back on the roster are the modernist-inspired 1970s Scoop chair and 2004 Ribbon light – a table lamp made of folded and powder-coated sheet steel, which has become a collectible according to Habitat.

Some of the new designs also nod to Habitat’s past. Kamodyová references the 1980s Graffiti sofa in the colourful markings of her ceramic tableware and vases, while Habitat designer Will Hudson’s Lattice wire chair is based on the wicker cone chairs of the 1970s and his bright red Akari four-poster bed was inspired by early Habitat catalogues.

Among the new product highlights there is in-house designer Kate McCormack metal Lucinda garden furniture, which has precise cut-outs intended to cast captivating shadows, and Planq’s XY60 coffee and side tables, with surfaces made from the recyclable denim waste material Rezign and legs in bright pops of blue or yellow.

Habitat designer D’arby Mawson’s Cayan salt and pepper grinders look like a sculptural version of a wooden stacking game, while Simone Brewster’s bold-hued rugs are based on her own hand-paintings of the female form.

Sebastian Conran’s contribution is a series of four lighting designs, including one inspired by the bulbous shapes of the Michelin Man, while Felix Conran has designed mirrors with the gentle contoured lines of river stones, and Margo Selby has applied her graphic pattern designs to a range of textiles and bedding.

Habitat’s head of design Andrew Tanner said that the brand’s 60th anniversary had provided an opportunity for the team to “look back and celebrate the last sixty years of Habitat’s rich heritage”.

“It’s allowed us to reimagine classics from decades past for how we live now, as well as conceive new and thoughtful pieces that we hope will become collectables and represent the next generation of design,” said Tanner.

Habitat was founded in 1964 by Terence Conran, the highly influential British designer and retailer who also founded The Conran Shop, Benchmark Furniture and London’s Design Museum.

In its first three decades, it helped to revolutionise British home decor tastes with its modern, clean-lined and European-inspired furniture and homewares, but since then it has struggled, having been sold three times over – first to IKEA in 1992, then to restructuring company Hilco in 2009, and finally to the Home Retail Group in 2011, which now largely sells the brand’s products through its Sainsbury’s and Argos stores and online.

However, contrary to Elle Decoration editor Michelle Ogundehin’s proclamation at that time that the brand was “as good as dead” and Conran’s own observation that his “love child…appears to be dying”, Habitat has persevered.

Tanner expressed optimism for the future of Habitat, and said that the company is in a better position now than ever before to create products that are true to its vision.

“Habitat has always championed great design and was founded on the concept of quality homeware that turns heads,” said Tanner. “We want to continue to be known for this moving forward. We are able, like never before, to create design-led products that are accessible and affordable to all.”

Other highlights from Habitat’s past include former creative director Polly Dickens’s first collection in 2012, which aimed to take the brand back to its “original Conran days” after the takeovers and a VIP for Kids range that touted designs by the likes of actors Kate Winslet and Daniel Radcliffe.

The post Habitat brings back archive “classics” for 60th anniversary collection appeared first on Dezeen.