The new wave of reissues
BY BÉRENGÈRE PERROCHEAU
After the great masters of the 20th century, the time has come for a new curiosity. Young French houses, as well as the more established ones, are bringing back to the forefront a long-confidential heritage. To the great delight of buyers.
This ambition to "finally give a chance to pieces that never really had one," according to Joséphine Bursacchi, is the reason why she founded, with Isabelle de Ponfilly, Source Édition, in 2025, the extension of her vintage furniture gallery. The result: a brand dedicated to the production of pieces from the 1950s to 1970s. Is this an objective to democratize certain pieces that are too expensive on the original market? "No," they answer, "we produce in France and Italy, with workshops that master the necessary know-how. This implies a real cost, linked to materials, techniques and the remuneration of creators."
Historical endorsement
So why search the archives for these future models? First of all, because "responsible reissuing generates royalties paid to the designer or their beneficiaries," answers Joséphine Bursacchi.
The (added) value of heritage
According to furniture professionals, it is above all about "recognizing that a piece was right from the start," analyzes Pierre Yovanovitch. "It's a way of honoring a heritage while making it exist, without nostalgia, but with respect and rigor. The reissue then becomes a cultural act as much as an aesthetic one." At Source Édition, for three of the five reissues in the catalog, everything started with the Mobilier national. This 17th-century institution, located in Paris (13th arrondissement), where furniture and textiles intended for presidential residences, official palaces and administrations are preserved and restored, gave itself the mission in the 1960s to commission young designers. "It preserves an exceptional heritage of creations designed for the State, but very rarely distributed to the general public," says Isabelle de Ponfilly, formerly head of Vitra France and a figure in international design. "André Monpoix's 'Dialogue' collection, dating from 1967, was a government commission to furnish the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. Then Simone Veil, Minister of Health, chose it to furnish her office. George Pompidou's presidential train was also equipped with it. How can we resist this history?" pretends to wonder the co-founder of Source Édition. "Turenne Chevallereau, at the request of the Mobilier national, designed in 1968 the first range of furniture delivered flat-packed in a kit and assembled without tools or screws," she continues. An invaluable pool of designs and names that remain to be shared.
Source Édition reissues, in collaboration with the Mobilier national, the coffee table and the convertible side table/ottoman from the "TU-TU" collection (1968), by Turenne Chevallereau. The Dialogue sofa and armchair (1967), by André Monpoix.
