Airborne

France

Corporation

Produzent

Founded in 1951 by Charles Bernard, Airborne specialized from the outset in the manufacture of seating furniture. In its small factory in Montreuil, east of Paris, the company initially produced furniture made of steel wire, including a lounge chair by Bonet, Kurchan and Ferrari-Hardoy (1938), licensed with the designation AA and known as the B.K.F. or Hardoy Chair. The use of new spring technologies in the 1950s and the development of upholstery foam injection processes in the 1960s enabled the creation of innovative lounge chair and sofa designs – possibilities that were broadened further in 1960 when production moved to Tournus. Among the designers who worked for Airborne were Pierre Guariche and later Danielle Quarante as well as Olivier Mourgue, whose Djinn furniture series (1964/65) caused as much of a stir as the company’s provocative advertising campaigns of the late 1960s. The impact of the oil crisis in the 1970s led to numerous changes in strategy and ownership; the firm also produced office furniture for a number of years. Since 2010, the company has produced variants of the model AA (1951) as well as the matching AO table by Florent Lasbleiz. Airborne [website] accessed 24.01.2026. Deligny, Pierre, Airborne 1945–1975 (Paris: les Modernistes, 2012). Forest, Dominique, ed., Mobi Boom. L’explosion du design en France 1945–1975, exhibition catalogue, Les Arts Décoratifs (Paris, 2010).