REISSUING: AN ART IN ITSELF
BY PATRICIA PARQUET
With Source Edition, Joséphine Bursacchi and Isabelle de Ponfilly are not indulging in nostalgia for the 1950s to the 1970s. Instead, they are bringing carefully chosen, desirable pieces by designers back into circulation — objects conceived to last and to be passed down from one generation to the next.
IT ALL STARTED WITH A LAMP BY BEN SWILDENS
Joséphine Bursacchi was looking for a Ben Swildens lamp for one of her clients, but finding one in good condition or at a reasonable price proved impossible. As the founder of Source Parisienne, an online gallery specialising in design from the 1950s to the 1970s, she turned to her mother, Isabelle de Ponfilly, a well-known figure in the design world and former President and CEO of Vitra France.
Their conversation sparked the idea of creating a new design publishing house capable of bringing rare creations back to life. Launched in April 2025, Source Edition reissues furniture, lighting and accessories from the 1950s to the 1970s with one clear ambition: to revive beautiful, desirable pieces made to last.
“We don’t want to be ‘collectible’,” says Isabelle de Ponfilly. Joséphine Bursacchi, meanwhile, champions objects “that don’t feel dated.”
MOTHER & DAUGHTER
The mother-and-daughter partnership is what makes the company unique. Joséphine selects the objects, colours and materials, and shapes the artistic direction. Isabelle examines every project from a technical and economic perspective.
Their approach is clear: to select only designs that can still find their place in today’s interiors. The first reissues already reveal a strong identity, ranging from Claude Courtecuisse to Ben Swildens, André Monpoix to Turenne Chevallereau, and Giuseppe Rivadossi.
They all express the same conviction: good design stands the test of time.
“What we want is to share the pleasure of owning an object, living with it and passing it on,” says Isabelle de Ponfilly. It is their way of taking a stand against disposable design.
“GOOD DESIGN STANDS THE TEST OF TIME.”
At Source Edition, reissuing is also a matter of ethics. Original drawings are not redesigned to suit contemporary tastes; they are respected, carefully studied and approved together with the designers who are still alive or with their rights holders.
Tracking down these heirs can sometimes become an investigation in itself, but it lies at the heart of the project, as does the payment of royalties on every sale.
This commitment to authenticity does not rule out thoughtful updates: certain materials are adapted to improve durability without altering the spirit of the original pieces. Produced in France or Italy by European craftspeople, these reissues aim to combine authenticity, quality and accessibility.
A young company with a wealth of experience behind it, Source Edition occupies a distinctive position in the design world: approaching every reissue as an act of transmission.
