Club
From Renzo Frau’s historic archives, the classic Club armchair, with its retro 1940’s design, is reissued in a lighter and more versatile version. Extremely comfortable and compact, Club is inspired by the conversation chairs that were fashionable in the gentlemen’s clubs of the period. The Club armchair integrates easily into all spaces, maintaining all the value of the artisan processing synonymous with the Poltrona Frau tradition. In the Club armchair intricate hand stitching embellishes the backrest and seat. The spring system consists of hand-tied biconical springs attached to jute belts. The structure is made from seasoned beech. The feet are made from beech with a dark walnut stain. The front feet have castors with gunmetal grey finish. The upholstery is in Pelle Frau® leather or fabric.
About Designer | |
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Renzo Frau |
Lorenzo Frau, known as ‘Renzo’, was born in Cagliari
in 1881. He left Sardinia for military service in Milan, which he completed
successfully earning the title of lieutenant. He married Savina Pisati and
moved to Turin, at the time a real hub of Italian culture.
He initially worked as a sales
representative for Gribaudi and then for Dermoide Patent, manufacturer of faux
leather. Having moved to Great Britain for work, he was able to discover the
Chesterfield model armchairs and immediately imagined its potential, successfully
starting to import it into Italy. At the same time, however, he was also
attracted by the models of French and Central European style. He therefore
decided to create his own artisan production laboratory. It was 1912: Poltrona
Frau was created. From the initial work ‘in style’, Frau quickly moved onto
direct design. Poltrona Frau became not only a production pole, but also a
meeting point for artists and intellectuals. Renzo Frau used these relations to
consolidate the brand image: successful models ensued quickly, one after the
other. As the First World War broke out, Frau was called to fight for his
country and his wife Savina bravely took up the reins of the company. Frau’s
armchairs thus began entering the most important buildings, also used by the
royal family. Renzo Frau met an early death in 1926. He left an extensive
archive of projects that would allow his wife to coherently pursue Poltrona
Frau production in the years to come. |