Happy Golden Anniversary Aram Designs

Today is the very day it all started 50 years ago back in 1964.  Zeev Aram opened his first showroom on the Kings Road, Chelsea on 9th April of that year.

He took a lease on the property at number 57, a former greasy spoon café called the Cosy Dining Room (three-course lunch for 3s 6d in those days...), and transformed it into a modernist sanctuary for all those design mavens yearning to bring a little chromed steel and glass furniture into their homes.

With its stark and minimalist interior, his showroom certainly cut a swathe through all the 'swinging' that was going on in London at that time and quizzical passers-by who would stop and press their noses up against the window were mostly left confused by what they saw inside. Zeev Aram would, discreetly, stand outside the showroom listening to the dissenters as they drifted by but still have a wry smile on his face as, for him, it was much more important for there to be a reaction (good or bad) rather than indifference.

What these cynical voyeurs didn't realise was that they were actually peering into the birth of a bold attempt to inject an appreciation of modern taste into the furniture buying populace. The 'rubbish' and 'uncomfortable' furniture, as they referred to it, was actually designed by Bauhaus icon, Marcel Breuer, the Italian maverick, Achille Castiglioni and, over the next couple of years, the works of Le Corbusier would be displayed in the window (the famous LC4 chaise longue took pride of place, above) and become available to the UK market for the first time, all thanks to the tenacity and uncompromising vision of Mr. Zeev Aram.

What's fascinating is that this same scenario still plays out today at the Aram Store here on Drury Lane whereby people will curiously leer in through the vast shop front windows and wonder what lies within...  a scenario, I imagine, that will still be playing out in another 50 years time.

MYLES BROWN