Disney Consumer Products and Avant Gallery are pleased to announce the launch of the Walt Disney Signature Airline_009 Chair in collaboration with Cory Grosser as they recreate a classic Disney inspiration. The launch event of the exhibit will take place December 2, 2010 during Art Basel/Design Miami fairs.
The Airline_009 chair combines both the classic design of the past chair, but with modern touches of today. It celebrates advances in furniture construction with a sculpted walnut frame and fine leather upholstery. Through careful design choices, the chair references the past but appears both light and unmistakably modern. It reclines with a concealed hinge hidden between the seat and back.
In 1938, with the success of, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney began to plan the construction of the ultimate animation studio in Burbank, California. Walt wanted his studio designed to facilitate optimum production, which is why he commissioned the design of the Airline Chair (1934). The chair was manufactured for a limited time and ultimately, the only chairs produced were the 300 or so which Walt Disney purchased for his new studio.
Today, the original Airline Chair is highly collectable and remains one of the most sought after Art Moderne products ever designed.
“This is the first time in my career that I have re-imagined an existing product. My goal was to create a new, modern chair that celebrates the original, but is updated to today’s way of living through improved aesthetics, manufacturing, comfort and quality of the materials for a lighter and elegant look,” said designer Cory Grosser. “I was most inspired by the story and the notion that Walt was willing to embrace a design that was so advanced for its time and it was exciting to have full access to the Disney archives and to learn how the chair was used in the original studio.”
The Airline_009 chair from Walt Disney Signature will be available exclusively at Avant Gallery for six months starting February 15, 2011 and will retail for approximately $3,900 and $1,400 for the accompanying ottoman. The chair will be available in black, brown, ivory, tan, red, orange, yellow, and green leather upholstery.