The French designer, architect and engineer Jean Prouvé created the Standard Chair in 1934. This design exemplifies a fundamental aspect of Prouvé’s numerous furniture designs and architectural works: his unwavering focus on structural requirements.

Vitra is expanding the palette for Jean Prouvé’s furniture to include some of the original Prouvé colours: the existing options of deep black, Japanese red and Blanc Colombe will be joined by Gris Vermeer, Bleu Dynastie, Blé Vert and Bleu Marcoule, as well as the Métal Brut variant in unpainted steel.

The Standard was manufactured in Jean Prouvé’s own factory. Most models had a metal frame and legs, with a seat and backrest made of wood. Other variations were made completely of metal or – especially during wartime and the related metal shortages – entirely of wood. Some had cushions in various materials, or demountable components for ease of transport; the last models with back legs made of aluminum followed in the 1950s.

Standard SP (Siège en Plastique) builds a bridge from past to present, giving this iconic chair a contemporary look without altering its form: made of robust plastic, the seat surface and backrest of Standard SP come in a palette of finely modulated colours.

Chaise Tout Bois is the only chair by the French 'constructeur' and designer Jean Prouvé that is made entirely out of wood. The design is very similar to Prouvé's famous Standard chair, but wood was substituted for the metal base due to the scarcity of metal during the Second World War.

The Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, is home to the world’s most extensive Jean Prouvé museum collection. It dates back to the 1980s when Rolf Fehlbaum (Chairman Emeritus at Vitra) acquired the first Jean Prouvé design, an Antony chair that he found in Paris, sparking Fehlbaum’s interest in the work of Jean Prouvé.