Some objects refuse to be bound by time. The cantilever chair—Marcel Breuer’s proposition from the Bauhaus era—is one of them. Stripped to its essence, it floats, embodying both movement and stillness. Nearly a century later, Jil Sander steps in with JS. THONET, an exploration of form—a study in how objects can be touched by time yet remain, fundamentally, unchanged.

Fashion and furniture meet here in ways both subtle and direct. Jil Sander’s vision is one of precision and restraint, she applied the same philosophy to Thonet’s S 64 chair, preserving Breuer’s essential structure while refining its details. The result: two lines, Serious and Nordic, each offering a distinct expression of material and balance.

To engage with JS. THONET is to experience a study in contrast—the intervention is precise, the craftsmanship exacting. The Serious line, defined by its graphite tonalities, reinterprets the cantilever’s industrial core through high-gloss wood lacquers and upholstery shades—graphite ruby red, graphite green, graphite blue, graphite black. The Nordic line embraces a lighter, organic presence, with nickel silver matte frames, natural leather, and the warmth of brushed oak.

Extending beyond the individual objects, the collection includes a reimagining of Thonet’s B 97 nesting tables, designed to complement the chairs in both function and aesthetic language. Modularity, adaptability, and a restrained sense of luxury define their presence.

Sander understands something profound: objects are not just things we use, but companions we live with. “Precious things educate us to consume less,” she says, and in those words lies a manifesto of mindful existence. The choices are deliberate, the changes imperceptible at first glance but striking in their precision. The collection enhances the tactile and visual essence of a piece that has already stood the test of time.