Despite my apartment's sometimes slovenly state, I do worship one cherished piece of furniture. It's a wire Eames-style Prince Charles chair with an artichoke-colored (almost olive) leather "bikini pad." The chair came from LA's own Modernica.
See, long before American Apparel made a big to-do about sweat shop-free, socially-conscious local LA production, brothers Jay and Frank Novak were creating beautiful furniture in our own not-yet-swanky Downtown. This week the duo (which is actually a very welcoming storefront on Beverly Blvd right near BLD–yum) celebrated 20-years of building beautiful hand-crafted modernist pieces from George Nelson Bubble Lamps to their signature Museum Bench.
(Museum Bench and George Nelson Lamps Respectively)
At the well-earned 20th Anniversary party, the owners featured their Prince Charles Chair with limited versions by Peter Shire (described as a blend of "Mid-Century, Memphis and European Antiquity"), some with custom bikini pads in unusual colors and patterns from marble-esque to a romantic tree-inspired design (below).
(20th Anniversary Party at Modernica)
Oh, if only I could populate my world with these chairs. I'd truly be happy as a clam.
A Mid-Century, Memphis, European, bikini pad-obsessed clam that is.
xo – N.