Loden, by Vico Magistretti
Loden
Kettal revives the Loden collection. Originally designed for Gavina in 1961, Loden is a series featuring an armchair and a sofa with a lacquered wood frame made with four cylinder-section legs and a tilted seat, also made of wood, with curved armrests whose design is similar to the profile of the armrests of the Carimate chairs.
The seat and backrest are upholstered in fabric. Dino Gavina, a Bolognese businessman, started producing new furniture in the mid-50s by collaborating with well-known designers and put back into producing furniture by Breuer, a renowned designer in NY, like the Cesca and Wassilly chairs.
The Loden series by Magistretti is part of the collections produced by Gavina in the 60s.
The seat and backrest are upholstered in fabric. Dino Gavina, a Bolognese businessman, started producing new furniture in the mid-50s by collaborating with well-known designers and put back into producing furniture by Breuer, a renowned designer in NY, like the Cesca and Wassilly chairs.
The Loden series by Magistretti is part of the collections produced by Gavina in the 60s.
Vico Magistretti Through the Eyes of Other Designers.
Exhibition at Salone del Mobile, Milano. Conceived and curated by Maddalena Casadei
Approaching the reissue of a historical project always involves a precise narrative choice. In the case of Vico Magistretti’s Loden armchair, given the limited historical documentation available, a lighter and less reverential approach was chosen in presenting the designer himself.
For Magistretti, names held fundamental importance—they were evocative elements designed to communicate an object’s technical and sensory qualities through suggestion. As with the Fiandra armchair, the Loden chair is directly linked to its upholstery material, evoking comfort, warmth, and durability.
In Italy, in particular, Loden fabric became an iconic garment from the 1960s to the late 1990s, symbolizing a cultured, understated, and refined elite. Magistretti himself always wore a Loden coat in winter and owned several in different colors.
From this idea, we invited figures from the contemporary design world who had known Magistretti to share anecdotes about Vico and his inseparable Loden. These stories, each in its own way, add small yet meaningful details to the broader narrative surrounding Magistretti.
The texts were then paired with a series of photographs by Piotr Niepsuj, a photographer known for his spontaneous, direct, and at times irreverent eye, creating a visual story that bridges memory and modernity.
Exhibition at Salone del Mobile, Milano. Conceived and curated by Maddalena Casadei
Approaching the reissue of a historical project always involves a precise narrative choice. In the case of Vico Magistretti’s Loden armchair, given the limited historical documentation available, a lighter and less reverential approach was chosen in presenting the designer himself.
For Magistretti, names held fundamental importance—they were evocative elements designed to communicate an object’s technical and sensory qualities through suggestion. As with the Fiandra armchair, the Loden chair is directly linked to its upholstery material, evoking comfort, warmth, and durability.
In Italy, in particular, Loden fabric became an iconic garment from the 1960s to the late 1990s, symbolizing a cultured, understated, and refined elite. Magistretti himself always wore a Loden coat in winter and owned several in different colors.
From this idea, we invited figures from the contemporary design world who had known Magistretti to share anecdotes about Vico and his inseparable Loden. These stories, each in its own way, add small yet meaningful details to the broader narrative surrounding Magistretti.
The texts were then paired with a series of photographs by Piotr Niepsuj, a photographer known for his spontaneous, direct, and at times irreverent eye, creating a visual story that bridges memory and modernity.
Designed by Vico Magistretti
Italo Lupi:
His teaching at the Royal College of Art gave him long and happy stays in London. And in London, Marialuisa and I were able to enjoy sharing some very peaceful British Sundays with Vico, especially on the Green at Kew Gardens, a beautiful and peaceful place where we could admire the elegant scene of the ev¬er-present cricket players in white. Here Vico joined us in the fog, enclosed in his loden coat as ‘required’ by the order of Milanese archi¬tects. But above the loden, he would place a triangular shawl of crocheted coloured wool on his shoulders: all very English (…)
Jasper Morrison:
Vico used to come to the Royal College of Art and give advice to the students in the Furniture Design Department. He was much too elegant to wear his Loden in the studio (I remember him in a tweed jacket with a cravatte around his neck) but I perhaps it was hanging in the office or maybe he hadn’t discovered it by then. The next time I saw him was on the steps up to an airplane, he was wearing his Loden in the winter sun and recognizing me, greeted me warmly and asked if I would agree that we had the best job in the world. I said yes but I wasn’t enjoying it that much at the time, but it changed everything for me to hear these words from a 70 year old maestro, after all if he was still enjoying it at his age then I must be doing something wrong!
His teaching at the Royal College of Art gave him long and happy stays in London. And in London, Marialuisa and I were able to enjoy sharing some very peaceful British Sundays with Vico, especially on the Green at Kew Gardens, a beautiful and peaceful place where we could admire the elegant scene of the ev¬er-present cricket players in white. Here Vico joined us in the fog, enclosed in his loden coat as ‘required’ by the order of Milanese archi¬tects. But above the loden, he would place a triangular shawl of crocheted coloured wool on his shoulders: all very English (…)
Jasper Morrison:
Vico used to come to the Royal College of Art and give advice to the students in the Furniture Design Department. He was much too elegant to wear his Loden in the studio (I remember him in a tweed jacket with a cravatte around his neck) but I perhaps it was hanging in the office or maybe he hadn’t discovered it by then. The next time I saw him was on the steps up to an airplane, he was wearing his Loden in the winter sun and recognizing me, greeted me warmly and asked if I would agree that we had the best job in the world. I said yes but I wasn’t enjoying it that much at the time, but it changed everything for me to hear these words from a 70 year old maestro, after all if he was still enjoying it at his age then I must be doing something wrong!
Susanna Magistretti:
Vico was the most English Milanese in Milan. He used to go to Savile Row to buy clothes, made to measure. Not always, because vain yes, he was, but not as much as people say! He bought pipes at Dunhill’s and basically all the stereotypes of 1960s Swinging London were a little bit his own. Magistretti’s only transgression to Englishness was the loden, the classic coat of so many Milanese besides Vico.
Santi Caleca:
I must have met Vico always in the spring or summer so I don’t remember his Loden. One day, however, I was at his house and was very impressed with his bed: there were books under the legs. I thought, what a funny solution for a designer!
Vico was the most English Milanese in Milan. He used to go to Savile Row to buy clothes, made to measure. Not always, because vain yes, he was, but not as much as people say! He bought pipes at Dunhill’s and basically all the stereotypes of 1960s Swinging London were a little bit his own. Magistretti’s only transgression to Englishness was the loden, the classic coat of so many Milanese besides Vico.
Santi Caleca:
I must have met Vico always in the spring or summer so I don’t remember his Loden. One day, however, I was at his house and was very impressed with his bed: there were books under the legs. I thought, what a funny solution for a designer!
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