Designed by Ash Allen as a commentary on the state of replica furniture and the authorities ambivalence to it in Australia. The original design is the Chaise A Tolix chair by Xavier Pauchard, Allen purchased a replica and had it flattened to add value. It was then sold as a one off item through the 1-OK-CLUB in the NGV, brilliant.
It is currently legal to sell knock offs provided you add the word “Replica”, this is just insane. I don’t understand how the law is supporting this blatantly immoral practice and I am perplexed as to why we are not doing more to stop it. The best thing to do is not buy them but that will not stop the majority of sales, common sense does not prevail in this arena and I do not know how you can convince the general public to stop buying this rubbish. Vitra, as an example, have a 30 year warranty on their products which shows that they are interested in quality and they are willing to stand by this. The replica market including Matt Blatt, Sokol, IKEA and Aldi are all peddling their future landfill without any regard for the rightful designers and distributors and their families. Think of the tireless hours and years in developing a product and tell me hand on heart they should not be rewarded for this effort. It makes me so mad. Good design is an excellent skill, the knock-off market know this and that is why they pursue their designs, the only skill these people show is a skill in navigating the law and avoiding fines. Good design, no doubt, costs more but good design with skilled manufacture will last a lifetime, this also reduces waste on materials. If you can’t afford the real thing then don’t buy a copy, buy an original from an emerging designer.
First seen in Vogue Living, more info about the 1-OK-CLUB website here which is an initiative of the NGV. Ash Allen’s website here. Also check out the Authentic Design Alliance here.
