28/04/09 - What makes a design timeless? Is it a certain uniqueness of form? Is it original technology, material or function? Or is it something more difficult to define? All timeless designs share a common sensibility of being familiar to you, of resonating or communicating something to you. They are the ones that you connect with, the ones you keep, the ones that never seem to go out of style, and the ones that travel with you throughout your life.

Bernhardt Design’s Global Edition was born out of the desire to create a collective of furniture that shares these characteristics by creating designs that are simple, pure, universal and, above all, timeless. The collection features the work of an accomplished roster of international designers including Shin Azumi, Jeffrey Bernett, Christian Biecher, CuldeSac, Yves Béhar, Arik Levy, Lievore Altherr Molina and PearsonLloyd.

Jerry Helling, Bernhardt Design’s Creative Director, commissioned new works for Global Edition by London’s Suzanne Trocmé and Fredrikson Stallard, Marc Thorpe of New York, and Claudia and Harry Washington from San Salvador to be introduced at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan.

The new pieces were designed with an eye toward hand craftsmanship and intricate detail, lending them an enduring simplicity. The materials used for the collection include hand-oiled walnut and stainless steel, coupled with old world sewing techniques and precise upholstery details.

While essentially modern, the pieces are not easily categorized into one particular era or trend line and are as varied and unique as the participants themselves. Bernhardt Design presents Global Edition as a response to the notion that great designs, like great art, are defined by what is left out. It is a story of reduction, of stripping away to what is essential.

Bernhardt Design
1839 Morganton Blvd
PO Box 740
Lenoir NC 28645
T 828 758 9811
F 828 759 6259
www.bernhardtdesign.com