For Edit 01 of the renewed KERN1 online store, four Chanel jackets from the 1990s were selected. Each was paired with a design chair and photographed inside the Depot of Histoire Vintage in the Netherlands.

The T Chair, in leather and steel by Katavolos, Littell and Kelley for Laverne, was paired with a cream V-neck jacket from Chanel Spring Summer 1990. The three-legged Pierre Chapo stool S31A was dressed in a hot red belted double-breasted jacket from the Chanel Spring Summer 1995 ‘Barbie’ collection. The Flag Halyard chair by Hans Wegner was matched with a black 1994 cashmere coat. A four-pocket contrast tweed jacket from 1991 was placed on the PP502 swivel desk chair, also designed by Wegner.

Bringing these pieces together was an exploration of objects that outlive their moment. Whether a garment, a piece of furniture, or something like the Porsche 911, certain designs move through time without losing their relevance. They continue to attract new audiences, decade after decade. The question is why.

Hans Wegner, one of Denmark’s most celebrated furniture designers, once described his work as a process of purification and simplification, to cut down to the simplest possible design. Design often moves in that direction. Not by adding more, but by removing what is unnecessary. In essence, it is an exercise in reduction. To make, adjust, remove and add, and then to begin again. To return to the same form repeatedly, refining it step by step, until something essential remains.

Designs that reach this level of clarity are often created with a deep sensitivity to human needs. They respond to how the body sits, moves, and rests.

Coco Chanel approached clothing in much the same way. The Chanel jacket was not created at once, but refined over time. Proportions adjusted, materials tested, and details reconsidered, shaped by ideas she encountered throughout her life, gradually forming a deeper understanding of the body and how clothing can support movement and everyday life, until a particular balance emerged.

Reaching that balance takes time. It requires distance from the object, placing it in a new environment, and looking again. Designers observe the world around them, architecture, materials, people, and movement, and slowly absorb these influences into their design. They remain open to adjustments. Great design evolves through this dialogue with life itself.

The most memorable designs also contain something slightly unexpected. A new material, an unusual proportion, or a detail that gently shifts the familiar. Something intelligent and beautiful that creates interest without disturbing the harmony of the whole. Material also plays an important role in this. Objects that last are often made from materials of exceptional quality, that age well and develop character over time. In this way, they endure, both in design and in substance.

What appears simple is often the result of a long process. A balance between complexity and reduction.

With special thanks to Histoire Vintage for hosting this shoot.
Image by Philia Santana.