Early Edition Pierre Paulin Three-Seat ABCD Sofa for Artifort, Late 1960s

Pierre Paulin introduced a fresh breeze into French furniture design in the 1960s and ’70s, fostering a sleek new Space-Age aesthetic. Along with Olivier Mourgue, Paulin developed chairs, sofas, dining tables and other furnishings with flowing lines and almost surreal naturalistic forms. And his work became such a byword for chic, forward-looking design and emerging technologies that two French presidents commissioned him to create environments in the Élysée Palace in Paris.

Paulin was born in Paris to a family of artists and designers. He initially sought to become a ceramist and sculptor and was studying in the town of Vallauris near the Côte d'Azur — a center for pottery making, where Pablo Picasso spent his postwar summers crafting ceramics — but broke his hand in a fight. He enrolled at the École Camondo, the Paris interior design school. There, Paulin was strongly influenced by the work of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Arne Jacobsen, as was reflected in his early creations for the manufacturer Thonet-France.

It was at the Dutch firm Artifort, which he joined in 1958, where Paulin blossomed. In a few years, he produced several of his signature designs based on abstract organic shapes. These include the Butterfly chair (1963), which features a tubular steel frame and slung leather, and a group of striking seating pieces made with steel frames covered in polyurethane foam and tight jersey fabric: the Mushroom (1960), Ribbon (1966) and Tongue (1967) chairs. The revered designer not only introduced new construction techniques to Artifort furniture but contributed fresh materials, Pop art colors and dazzling shapes to the mid-century modern era as a whole.

In 1971, the Mobilier National — a department of France’s Ministry of Culture in charge of furnishing top-tier government offices and embassies — commissioned Paulin to redesign President Georges Pompidou’s private apartment in the Élysée Palace. In three years, Paulin transformed the staid rooms into futuristic environments with curved, fabric-clad walls and furnishings such as bookcases made from an arrangement of smoked-glass U shapes, flower-like pedestal chairs and pumpkin-esque loungers.

Ten years later, the Mobilier National called on Paulin again, this time to furnish the private office of President François Mitterand. Paulin responded with an angular, postmodern take on neoclassical furniture, pieces that looked surprisingly at home in the paneled, Savonnerie-carpeted Louis XVI rooms. As those two Élysée Palace projects show, Paulin furniture works well both in a total decor or when used as a counterpoint to traditional pieces. His creations have a unique personality: bright and playful yet sophisticated and suave.

Find vintage Pierre Paulin lounge chairs, armchairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.

With deep roots in Scandinavian modernism — as well as foundational partnerships with designers such as Nanna Ditzel and Ross Littell — the textiles aficionados at Kvadrat consistently push the envelope in their concepts for rugs and carpets, window coverings and upholstered furniture. 

Kvadrat is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of textiles and textile products, and the company is also well known for the lounge chairs, sofas and canapes upholstered in its revered fabrics. These furnishings include seating created by Danish mid-century master Finn Juhl, which is today upholstered in a range of Kvadrat materials and manufactured by House of Finn Juhl.

Kvadrat was established on Denmark’s east coast in 1968 to provide textile solutions for residential and commercial interiors. The company is focused on eco-conscious processes and prioritizes sustainability — its brand Really creates products from textile waste — and its bold designs and technological advancements helped Kvadrat become a leader in Europe's high-end textile market.

A series of successful partnerships have also kept Kvadrat thriving over the long term. In 2001, it partnered with New York-based textile company Maharam to operate joint ventures in Australia. The partnership was a success for both companies and led to collaborations with leading designers and artists like Peter Saville, Patricia Urquiola and Thomas Demand.

In 2014, Kvadrat also partnered with fashion designer Raf Simons, who used the manufacturer's textiles in his menswear lines. The designs debuted on runways in Paris when Simons presented his Autumn/Winter 2015 and Autumn/Winter 2016 collections.

In 2018, Kvadrat announced another new partnership, this time with American-based furniture company Haworth. It was a natural fit for the two family-owned and design-oriented companies, and Haworth now offers its high-performance furniture to clients worldwide that is upholstered in Kvadrat fabrics.

Kvardrat’s textiles have been integrated into projects all over the world such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Yves Saint Laurent in Paris and elsewhere. In 2022, the company held a pop-up space in Chicago’s Fulton Market during NeoCon.

On 1stDibs, find a collection seating and other furniture upholstered in Kvardrat fabrics.