Artek x Supreme, Alvar Aalto Bench 153A, Checkerboard Edition, 2017
Alvar Aalto meets Supreme — the 2017 collaboration that put a checkerboard on a modernist icon and made both parties look good.
ARTIST: Alvar Aalto (Finnish, 1898–1976) for Artek, in collaboration with Supreme
PERIOD: 2017
CATEGORY: Furniture
MATERIALS: Solid birch, silkscreen checkerboard top, Supreme box logo
DIMENSIONS: 44½ l × 15¾ d × 17½ h in.
CONTEXT: New York streetwear brand Supreme updated Aalto's iconic Bench 153A with a bold checkerboard graphic and the Supreme box logo, silkscreened onto the seat — part of the brand's Spring Summer 2017 collection. Alvar Aalto's Bench 153 employs his groundbreaking L-leg system, allowing legs to be mounted directly to the seat without complicated connecting elements — a design innovation that has been in continuous production since 1945 and is represented in the MoMA collection. The Supreme collaboration transforms one of modernism's most restrained objects with one of streetwear's most recognizable graphics — the checkerboard pattern silkscreened across the solid birch top in black and white, the Supreme box logo present but understated. In excellent condition. A piece that belongs equally in a design collection and a Supreme archive.