Callum Lounge Chair awarded Bespoke Guild Mark

An exclusive lounge chair designed by top automotive designer Ian Callum has been awarded the Bespoke Guild Mark.

Mr Callum, one of the UK’s most celebrated car designers, created the Aston Martin Vanquish and spent two decades at Jaguar designing models including the F-Type and C-X75.  The ‘Callum’ chair is his first furniture design project and has been widely acclaimed by the furniture industry.

The unique chair, which costs from £8,500, is inspired by the iconic Eames lounge chair and ottoman and is designed to create an elegant and efficient ‘lightness’, both physically and visually. Floating wooden forms are connected by a modern, minimalist skeletal structure of carbon fibre and steel, with a moulded plywood shell encased in a eucalyptus veneer and finished in leather trim.

“It’s an incredible honour to be awarded such prestigious recognition as the Bespoke Guild Mark,” said Mr Callum.

“While the Callum team has vast experience and achieved recognition in the automotive industry, our intention with the business was to create bespoke and low volume products that really excited us across broad industries. I have always wanted to explore the challenges of furniture design and was delighted when our design study was so well received.

“For this project to result in the furniture industry’s ultimate design-maker accolade is astounding and true testament to how the entire Callum team applies itself wholeheartedly to new design and engineering challenges.”

Daniel Hopwood, Bespoke Guild Mark chairman at The Furniture Makers’ Company said: “We’d like to congratulate Ian and his team on the Callum chair which is a real triumph and demonstrates how the most outstanding design can transcend industries.

“Carrying unrivalled design credentials across from automotive design to this exquisite piece of furniture is an incredible feat and one that is deserving of the Bespoke Guild Mark, which we only award to the most meticulous, luxurious and highly crafted pieces of bespoke furniture. Since its launch in 1958, it has been the apex of distinctions for UK designer-makers and as such we only award it to very exceptional pieces.”