Philippe Starck and Emeco - A Long Lasting Collaboration

Like all of his projects, the collaboration between Starck and Emeco first begins with an encounter, a relationship. Emeco's Gregg Buchbinder was in the audience at a speech by Philippe Starck at the ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) in New York in 1998. Mr. Buchbinder approached Philippe Starck after the conference. A first handshake, a first conversation between two men, two honest creators. And thus began a close, lasting and prolific relationship between Emeco and Philippe Starck. A relationship that launched Emeco's transformation from a U.S. Navy supplier into one of the top design furniture brands.

The Hudson Chair by Philippe Starck, created for the Hudson Hotel NYC in 2000, was the first new design for Emeco in more than 50 years. With the Hudson chair, Starck was one of the first to take the iconic Navy chair out of its original context and place it into modern design-focused settings with a true creative vision. 

"Working with Emeco has allowed me to use a recycled material and transform it into something that never needs to be discarded – a tireless and unbreakable chair to use and enjoy for a lifetime.”

Ph.S

After the Hudson, Starck continued designing for Emeco, leadingto a whole series of collaborations includingthe Heritage (2001), Emeco Stools (2002), Kong (2003) and Icon collection (2006). In 2012 Emeco and Starck went on to create the Broom Chair, made of 90% reclaimed industrial waste. A design collaboration that both avoids and eliminates waste, combining intelligent materiality with beautiful form. 

Over the years, Emeco and Philippe Starck have created pieces both for the present and for a range of imagined futures. Exploring resource conservation challenges, Emeco and Starck have united their creativity and technological know-how to rethink industrial production, collaborating for good by source reusing and reducing. 

“Philippe and I have always agreed that it’s not about recycling, but about restructuring production. Our aim is to prevent waste from being manufactured in the first place, using discarded materials to make things that lasts.”

Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco CEO

For more information : https://www.emeco.net