2020s Noe Duchaufour-Lawrance for Bernhardt Design Chantal Desk Chair in Leather

Not wishing to simply produce or be rational about a product, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance prefers that each of his projects has its own unique scenario, nourished without distinction between uses, forms, materials or aesthetics. For him, curves and straight lines, sensuality and strictness interact in confrontations that are conducive to create meaning and awaken our senses. Through his desire to breathe life into both the objects and spaces he designs, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance views each project as an organic form that will grow over time with its user, almost like a natural element that can challenge human order or disorder.

Originally, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance was a sculptor, preoccupied with each work he created by a story and intimate link with nature that he felt the need to retranscribe by using his hands. But soon the IDEA of stirring emotions in others by creating useful forms became an evident path for someone who loves the beautiful as much as the functional and harmony as much as social responsibility. So he turned to design.

Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance often compares his approach to tsubo niwa, the tiny garden at the center of a traditional Japanese house. Like an organic pulse in a profession dedicated to meeting the demands of an industry, a market or a specific client, he is as ready to design objects with inspired lines for manufacturers (Bernhardt Design, Ceccotti Collezioni, Cinna, Ligne Roset, La Chance, Petite Friture, Tacchini, Zanotta) as he is to imagine harmonious living areas (Senderens, Air France Lounges, Ciel de Paris, Meurice Oenotheque, Chalet La Transhumance, #Cloud Paris lounge) or even to define a product image or showcase for a famous brand (Paco Rabanne, YSL Beauty, Perrier-Jouët).

Thus in 2015 Montblanc associated its name with Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, entrusting him with the architectural plans of the company’s 500 boutiques worldwide.

His unique approach has led him to conceive exceptional objects that have been presented in the Pierre Bergere Gallery in Brussels and the BSL gallery in Paris. He has participated in prestigious events like the AD Interiors exhibition at Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 2013 and more recently, the AD collections exhibition, also in Paris.

Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s creative meanderings have led him to initiate a collaboration with the Neal Feay workshop in the United States and also to work with two royal factories in France: Mobilier National (National Furniture) and the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres (ceramics). The latter two endeavors combine his contemporary vision of design with the finely honed skills of master craftsmen that were used in the 18th century.

Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s approach has been acclaimed by the French and international press and he has received many prizes including NeoCon Silver 2016 for his Modern Family collection for Bernhardt Design, the 2015 Via Label, the 2014 Janus business prize for the Air France Salons, the GQ Best Designer prize in 2012, the prestigious Red Dot prize for Best Product in 2011 and both the Elle Decoration International Design Prize and Wallpaper* Design Award in 2009.

With his innate fondness for Art Nouveau, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance relies not only on the universal character of nature to impose shapes that make sense but believes that the idea of a total, multidisciplinary art is vital for contemporary creation.

(Biography provided by Galerie Philia)

While many great American furniture brands have come and gone, Bernhardt continues to thrive in its space. Spanning more than 130 years and four generations of family leadership, the company maintains an enduring presence in the modern era. Along with Bernhardt Textiles, a workplace-focused division of the company called Bernhardt Design opened in 1981. 

Bernhardt Furniture is a global manufacturer of furniture and home accessories and has garnered widespread acclaim for its signature high-quality craftsmanship. Today Bernhardt lounge chairs, coffee tables and dressers are reliable mainstays in living rooms, bedrooms, offices, school campuses and hospitality properties all over the world.

The company was founded in 1889 by John Bernhardt, a veteran of the sawmill trade who intended to produce durable furniture made of wood from the white oak trees that grew in his native North Carolina.

Bernhardt quickly earned a reputation for his exceptionally strong, sturdy, striking pieces and eventually gained competitors in the likes of Broyhill and Kent-Coffey, two Lenoir companies that were established in the early 1900s. Bernhardt created fruitful relationships for distributing his furniture all over the country, and as the business gained steam, the company was able to survive the trials and tribulations of World War I and the Great Depression.

While World War II yielded labor and material shortages, demand for furniture took shape in the postwar years as new homeowners looked to furnish their spaces. Expansion followed for Bernhardt, and in 1958, the company added upholstered furniture to its growing catalog. As often as you can find boxy club chairs in Bernhardt’s inventory that are inspired by iconic designs by Le Corbusier or Milo Baughman, the brand has introduced reproductions of furnishings in period styles such as Chippendale, Hollywood Regency and chinoiserie. 

Bernhardt continued to expand over time and, in 1981, added the Bernhardt Design division, which focuses on furnishing offices and public spaces. Bernhardt Design sponsors a course at the ArtCenter College of Design for budding designers and has partnered with the likes of Brad Ascalon, Mark Goetz and others. 

Bernhardt Furniture entered the new millennium by announcing a licensed furniture partnership with Martha Stewart in 2001. Bernhardt and Stewart have since collaborated on several additional collections. In 2008 and 2009, the company launched two more divisions: Bernhardt Interiors for customizable and high-design furniture and Bernhardt Hospitality to cater to the needs of the hospitality market.

Bernhardt has garnered many prestigious awards over its long history, including multiple Pinnacle Design Achievement Awards from the American Society of Furniture Designers. The company is also a leader in sustainable manufacturing and works with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council.

In 2019, Bernhardt introduced the Bernhardt Exteriors division for high-quality and innovative outdoor furniture. Today, the company operates eight manufacturing facilities and continues to be a leader and trendsetter in the growing worldwide oak furniture market.

On 1stDibs, find Bernhardt Design furniture on 1stDibs.