Here we have a set of 8 chairs designed by Vico Magistretti and produced by Terence Conran. The set of 8 comprises 2 Carimate chairs and 6 115 side chairs. Originally red lacquered, solid beech with rush seats, this set has been restored with minimal intervention to the finish and all chairs have freshly rushed seats. The price here is for the lightly restored chairs but we can also offer this set with restored red lacquer, please get in touch if this is something you require.

The Carimate or “Red Chair” is one of the most iconic of Magistretti’s designs if not the most popular here in Britain. Designed in 1959 and first manufactured by Frattelli in 1960 for the club house of the Carimate golf club.

The chair is partly based on the Scandinavian tradition but, at the same time, a re-interpretation of the Italian wood and straw chair. Magistretti used red aniline dye, which was used for toys at the time, which colour matched the columns, doors and windows of the Carimate club house. The main design features are to be found in the structural swelling on the legs coinciding with the seat junction, the point under greatest stress and containing a unique patented joint.

In 1962 Terence Conran spotted the Carimate in a Bologna showroom and acquired the license for Britain. 1966 saw the development of the Carimate with the introduction of the 115 side chair, 120 stool, 722 table and in 1964 the 913 bunk bed.

By 1984 it was produced in White, black, red, green, blue and natural by Cassina. Production ceased in 1988 with Cassina to then be revived in 2002 by De Pova to furnish the Esselunga supermarkets, which ran for 10 years until 2012. In 2020 Fritz Hansen ran a limited production of numbered editions for the Magistretti centenary.