History

The arrival of "reinforcing steel" makes it possible to produce models adapted to communities at a lower cost.

Thus Airborne will equip, in the same way as Jean Prouvé, part of the university city of Antony with two seats specially designed by Raoul Guys: Antony Armchair and Chair.

Charles Bernard, still in partnership with Raoul Guys, developed Oro, a series of rattan and painted iron furniture that was both lightweight and durable. Air France chose this collection to furnish its African hubs (24 locations), including the major hotels in Brazzaville.

In 1954, the design office conceived a collection with a metal base reminiscent of that of the AA. Of this range, only the T3 (or Jasmin) coffee table has survived, now called the AO table and available in several versions.

Airborne also offers designs by René Jean-Caillette: the 310, 320, 340 and 530, the ultimate models with a wooden frame.

In 1958, another young designer, André Simard, entered the scene with his CL106 bench seat, the C60 and the 106 chauffeur seat.

In 1960, for their first participation, Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq designed a chair with a very pure line: LA P60.

In 1969 they proposed a prestigious office, the Villafranca, which would become Charles Bernard's office in Tournus.

1960 also marks the arrival of the young Olivier Mourgue. Through his creations and dynamism, Olivier Mourgue will become an essential player in the company, in proportion to the international development of his reputation as a designer.

The Joker, his first creation for Airborne, had a slow start before achieving real commercial success.

In 1963, he designed a futuristic model: the Djinn. This collection greatly contributed to the development of Airborne's international image: tens of millions of viewers were able to see it in the setting of the film "2001: A Space Odyssey", directed by Stanley Kubrick.

For the occasion, Djinn was dressed in vermilion red and Tyrian pink.

With such a reference, it became the avant-garde model of the time, also the first production seat consisting of a foam padding covered with a removable Jersey fabric cover.

That same year, he designed Tric-Trac, which unfortunately only 5 copies were made due to the complexity of its creation.

A model is kept at the Museum of Decorative Arts.

In 1964, Olivier Mourgue proposed Whist.

This model is proving successful in public places such as airport lobbies and waiting rooms.

Olivier Mourgue designed the Montréal armchair for the main hall of the French pavilion at the 1967 Montreal World's Fair. It was later produced in a very limited edition by Airborne. This armchair is part of the Mobilier National collection. Its organic shape makes it an emblem of the 1960s.

In 1969, Danielle Quarante designed the Albatros armchair, for which she received the Henri Mercier prize for best creation.

Charles Bernard is won over: Airborne will produce this armchair.

The company produces around twenty units per month, mostly in white. The Albatros is part of the permanent collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Musée du Plastique in Brussels.

Its production ceased in 1975.

In the mid-1960s, Yves Christin, a recent graduate of the School of Applied Arts and the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, joined the Airborne design office. His first creation was the Blooming chair, which combined the company's expertise in bending steel tubing with the new material, methacrylate. He chose the concept, daring for the time, of a suspended seat made of Altuglass. This chair was complemented by a round, slightly smoked-topped table.

Yves Christin presented the interesting combination named Romulus in 1969.

The press success will be significant, most often presented with a striped fabric, but it is in the white imitation leather version that it will find its true identity and its reception with the public.

Yves Christin also designed for Airborne the Storm armchair and lounge chair which remained in the catalogue until the end of the company and the very beautiful Lucullus model, intended for communities.

Designed for Airborne the Agathe chair (star of the Europlastique trade fair in 1970) and the Trèfle swivel chair with polyester shell.

It was created by Charles Bernard at the beginning of the company but became a fully independent department in the late 1950s.

He was the one who developed the Presteel patent in the 1960s. His reputation is such that it is considered by the profession as the most efficient research and development site.

Verner Panton and the Mobilier National called upon him to create numerous prototypes.

From 1973 onwards, deprived of its main creator, Olivier Mourgue, the company increasingly turned to its design office.

From this department came in 1969 the famous Potato chair, both a huge commercial success and the beginning of the end for Airborne (see "Airborne, a French saga")

The design office's greatest achievement was the 3000 Series released in 1973 because it incorporated a new technique: foam injection, which paved the way for new generation seats in the automotive sector.

But the development studies were too expensive to hope for a return on investment.

In its 25 years of existence, this service has welcomed many creators such as Christian Germanaz, Yves Christin, Jean-Claude Lecubin, François Jodeau, Bernard Marange, Germain Pernet, Christian Adam, not forgetting Daniel Bernard, his son, himself a designer.

The bankruptcy filing was announced in May 1975.

Taken over by a local company, Établissements Chambat, then sold for a symbolic one franc to Stafor, the company relocated to Mérignac in the Gironde region. The Tournus site will be reactivated with a limited staff to provide after-sales service for the Patate...

Next came the successive acquisitions by Steelcase, the Fimopart group and then Amatera.

From this period emerged furniture intended primarily for communities and businesses.

In its catalogue, the AA chair still survives amidst the desks and chairs.

Once again hampered by the 2008 crisis and poor management decisions, Airborne finds itself in liquidation once more.

However, the disappearance of the production sites does not mean the disappearance of the name.

In 2010, Christine Pfeiffer and Patricia Lejeune acquired the company name, its history, and a small stock of AA armchairs and AO tables at auction in Nanterre. They persevered despite malicious companies creating and registering names in an attempt to seize the business and its historical capital. Restarting the company proved difficult. The archives had been plundered by successive owners, and new players continue to appropriate and misuse its documents, even today.

Initially located in Duhort-Bachen in the Landes region and then in Aire sur l'Adour, the recovery was quite rapid.

The company initially focused on reviving the AA chair: today, its catalog offers 57 different covers. Simultaneously, it invited young designers to create a new collection inspired by the incredibly creative 1950s to 1970s. The At-Once design studio successfully joined this new venture and has already designed a new coffee table and a new bridge chair for Airborne.

Today, with its network of 300 design stores in France and 200 abroad, it intends to become a fully-fledged French publisher again.

Maxime Lis joined the team as artistic director in 2022 alongside the designers and the commercial team.

His expertise, his sense of creativity, and his understanding of historical value enrich us every day. Together, we are writing a new chapter in Airborne's history, inspired by its glory days between 1951 and 1974: years when only creativity and imagination reigned supreme. We continue to dream :)