This year marks a century since the birth of Verner Panton, the Danish designer whose playful futurism transformed the world of modern furniture. In 2026, Vitra and the Vitra Design Museum honor his bold legacy with a year-long global celebration of exhibitions, re-editions, and limited releases, produced in close collaboration with the Panton family.
Image: © Verner Panton Design AG
The partnership between Verner Panton and Vitra began in the early 1960s with a radical idea: a chair molded in one continuous piece. Though Panton had sketched the concept in the 1950s, it wasn’t until Rolf Fehlbaum, son of Vitra’s founder Willi Fehlbaum, championed the project that the experiment came to life. The result was the Panton Chair, unveiled in 1967, a swooping, sculptural seat crafted from fiberglass-reinforced polyester that remains one of the most recognizable symbols of 20th-century design.
This collaboration grew into a lasting friendship between the Panton family and Vitra, continuing long after the designer’s passing in 1998. Today, his wife Marianne and daughter Carin Panton von Halem remain actively involved, overseeing reissues of Panton’s classics including the Cone Chair, Heart Cone Chair, Amoebe, and Living Tower, all produced by Vitra since 2004.
A Museum’s Homage
The Vitra Design Museum holds one of the world’s most comprehensive Panton collections, a cornerstone for exhibitions and scholarly publications. Building on a landmark retrospective in 2000, the museum will unveil a new exhibition in May 2026, dedicated to exploring the imaginative breadth of Panton’s work on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
The Heart Cone Chair Reimagined
To mark what would have been Panton’s 100th birthday on February 13, Vitra and Verner Panton Design AG are releasing a limited-edition Heart Cone Chair in a striking two-tone blue. The split palette enhances the chair’s emotional dynamism, amplifying its signature heart-shaped silhouette, a sculptural centerpiece in any interior.
Designed originally in 1959 as an evolution of Panton’s Cone Chair, the Heart Cone pairs geometric rigor with spirited sensuality. Its enveloping form and generous wings embody Panton’s fascination with how furniture could shape feeling as much as space, a principle that continues to resonate profoundly with contemporary audiences.
Panton’s Enduring Spirit
From the futuristic landscapes of the 1960s to today’s design ateliers, Verner Panton’s ideas remain electrifyingly relevant. His vision, that design should surprise, delight and provoke, continues to guide Vitra’s collaborations and inspire new generations of creators who see the home not just as a space to inhabit, but as a stage for imagination.
