Heller, Inc.

Heller is an American company founded in 1971 that makes and sells indoor/outdoor furniture and accessories. It is headquartered in Westport, Connecticut, United States. Its founder, Alan Heller, invited well-known architects and designers including Mario Bellini, Frank Gehry, and Lella and Massimo Vignelli to create products for the company.

Heller
TypePrivate
IndustryFurniture, houseware
Founded1971
FounderAlan Heller
Headquarters
Westport
,
United States
Websitehellerinc.com

Examples of its furniture and houseware are exhibited in museums including the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Vitra Design Museum. Its stackable Hellerware won the Italian design award, the Compasso d'Oro.

History

The company was founded in 1971 by Alan Heller.[1][2] Heller's first line of products was a set of stackable dinnerware known as "Hellerware"[3] designed by Lella and Massimo Vignelli.[4][5] This design was originally manufactured in Italy and was awarded the 1964 Compasso d'Oro. Heller brought the design to America after the Italian manufacturer ceased production, and revived the product line in America.[6] The brightly-colored Hellerware was seen as a "design classic and signified the 1970s and 1980s"[7] alongside fashionable Marimekko fabrics.[7] A "large selection" of Hellerware is held in the Plastics Collection at Syracuse University Library, with other examples at the Museum of Modern Art and New York's Cooper-Hewitt Museum.[6]

The "sexualised mood"[8] of the 1960s was reflected in items such as Studio 65's Bocca sofa (Italian for "mouth"). Resembling a large pair of red lips, it was originally named "Marilyn" after Marilyn Monroe.[9][10][8] The designer was the architect Franco Audrito. Heller has sold it since the 1970s; it was initially made of polyurethane covered with fabric; a modern version is made of waterproof resin polymer.[11] It is displayed in design museum collections including the Vitra Design Museum[12] and the Museum of Modern Art.[13]

Heller died in 2021 and the company was subsequently purchased by John Edelman, who had known Heller well, and John McPhee.[14][15] Asked what the brand represented, Edelman replied "Accessible. Iconic. Modern." and "I think Heller strikes a chord not only in architects and designers but also regular consumers when the name is mentioned. “Hellerware” was part of many people’s childhoods. There’s a huge push to bring it back."[15]

In January 2023, Heller relaunched their Vignelli Dinnerware collection at MoMA Design Store,[16] leading to its being featured by partner companies.[17] Also in January 2023, Heller began to issue non-fungible tokens to guarantee the genuineness of their designer products such as the Vignelli rocker chair.[18]

Awards and distinctions

The company's furniture and houseware have been described as "elegant, often whimsical but always affordable" by The New York Times,[19] "iconic" by the business news outlet OfficeInsight,[20] as "the cult favorite design brand" by Business of Home magazine,[14] and as "beautiful and timeless" by Architonic.[21] Heller's designers, described by Gray magazine as "some of the world’s most revered",[22] include the Canadian-born architect Frank Gehry, who has designed brightly-colored "cube" seating for the company.[23]

The company's plastic chair designed by Mario Bellini won a Gold Medal, the Compasso d'Oro, in Milan in 2001;[19][7] it is exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art.[24] The Italian designer and architect Sergio Asti's 1972 ice bucket design for Heller is exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[25]

References
  1. "About Us Heller". Heller. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  2. Green, Penelope (August 23, 2021). "Alan Heller, Who Made Plastic Housewares Beautiful, Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  3. Guralnick, Margot (August 25, 2021). "A Tribute to Alan Heller and His Iconic Heller Dinnerware". Remodelista. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  4. "Massimo Vignelli, Lella Vignelli. Stacking Dinnerware. 1964". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  5. "Heller". Hive Modern. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  6. "Hellerware Dishes Exemplify 1960s Tableware Design". The Plastics Collection, Syracuse University Library. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  7. "Remembering Housewares Design Visionary Alan Heller". Homepage News. August 30, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  8. Moore, Joanna (October 11, 2012). "Pop Art Design, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein". Undo.Net. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  9. "Progetto. Bocca". Studio 65. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  10. Martin, Hannah (August 10, 2017). "The Rich History Behind Studio 65's Iconic Lips Sofa". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 29 March 2023. the actress's mouth had been artfully transformed into a pout-shaped sofa. "What could represent the temple's Goddess better than a sofa, ironic and sensual, dressed in red," Audrito writes in his book, Il Mercante di Nuvole. They called it Marilyn (though it now goes by Bocca)
  11. "Iconic Designs: Bocca Sofa by Studio 656". 1stDibs. Retrieved March 29, 2023. Since 1970, the Bocca has been used as a prop in television, film and more, and is celebrated all over the world. It's included in the permanent collections of a number of museums. Today, two versions of the sofa that differ slightly from one another with respect to materials are manufactured by Gufram (polyurethane and elastic fabric) and Heller (resin polymer plastic).
  12. "Bocca / Marilyn, 1970: Studio 65". Vitra Design Museum. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  13. "Bocca Sofa". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  14. Nicolaus, Fred (29 August 2022). "How two friends named John reinvented the design business". Business of Home. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  15. Carey, D. J. (October 13, 2022). "John Edelman's Next Chapter". Connecticut Cottages & Gardens Magazine. No. October 2022.
  16. "10 Things That'll Almost Definitely Sell Out: From Nécessaire to Hellerware". New Yorker Magazine. January 18, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  17. "Supreme/Heller Bowls (Set of 6) - Spring/Summer 2023 Preview". supreme.com. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  18. Aouf, Rima Sabina (January 5, 2023). "Digby Design Authenticator links furniture with NFTs to fight counterfeiting". dezeen. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  19. Green, Penelope (August 23, 2021). "Alan Heller, Who Made Plastic Housewares Beautiful, Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  20. Beck, Robert (May 9, 2022). "John Edelman Purchases Iconic American Furniture Manufacturer Heller". OfficeInsight. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  21. "Heller". Architonic. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  22. Gallaher, Rachel (2022). "Give 'em Heller". Gray Magazine. No. 65-66 Design Titans / Shelter.
  23. Olsen, Carlene (May 4, 2022). "John Edelman Buys Heller, Solidifying His Return to the Furniture Industry". Interior Design. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  24. "Mario Bellini Cab Side Chair 1976". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  25. "Ice Bucket". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved March 28, 2023. Designed by Sergio Asti (Italian, born 1926) Made by Heller Designs, Inc., New York (1971–present)

Further reading
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