History

Niels Wiese Vitsø (pronounced ‘vit-sue’), co-founder, born Aarhus, Denmark, 13 February. Inevitably the number 13 becomes Vitsœ’s lucky number.

Otto Zapf, co-founder, born Rossbach, Czechoslovakia, 10 August.

Dieter Rams, industrial designer, born Wiesbaden, Germany, 20 May. Learns carpentry at an early age from his grandfather, a master carpenter.

Niels Vitsø joins France & Daverkosen, a Danish furniture-maker founded by the Englishman, Charles France, and the Dane, Eric Daverkosen. Niels Vitsø was Father Christmas with the France family in 1936. The company was noted for its innovative work with Danish designer, Finn Juhl.

Dieter Rams joins Wiesbaden School of Arts and Crafts, Germany, for foundation course in interior design.

Dieter Rams apprentices as carpenter.

Dieter Rams rejoins Wiesbaden School of Arts and Crafts, Germany, and graduates as interior architect.

Dieter Rams joins the German electrical products company, Braun, as an interior architect. He presents a sketch to modernise Braun’s interiors. On the back wall can be seen the first notion of a track-based, wall-mounted, storage system.

Otto Zapf visits Dieter Rams at Braun and asks Rams to design furniture for Zapf’s father’s furniture-making company.

When Rams seeks the permission of Braun’s director, Erwin Braun, to work for another company, the instinctive answer was: “Yes! It will help the market for our radios.”

Rams develops designs for a flat-pack modular home storage system: 571 Montage System (originally RZ 57).

Zapf meets Danish furniture dealer Niels Vitsø at Cologne Furniture Fair, Germany.

Otto Zapf introduces Rams to Niels Vitsø.

Niels Vitsø and Otto Zapf found the company Vitsoe+Zapf on 4 September to realise the furniture designs of Dieter Rams. German artist, Günther Kieser, represents Niels Vitsø intertwined with a chair for the launch poster.

606 Universal Shelving System (originally RZ 60) is launched as a wall-mounted storage solution. The Braun audio 2 radio-phono provides the centre-to-centre dimension of 667mm.

Dieter Rams is appointed head of product design at Braun. He visits London for the first time to be awarded the Supreme Award for Braun TP 1 portable record-player at Interplas, the international plastics exhibition. Rams was nominated by Paul Reilly of the Council of Industrial Design (later the Design Council).

Mark Adams, Vitsœ managing director, born Ipswich, England, 28 February.

620 Chair Programme (originally RZ 62) and 621 Table are launched – the first and second Vitsœ products of 1962 – therefore 62-0 and 62-1. (Photographs by Ingeborg Rams, née Kracht)

Otto Zapf leaves ‘Vitsoe+Zapf’.

Rams marries Ingeborg Kracht (1931-2022), a photographer for both Braun and Vitsœ. The pair remained together for over 50 years until Ingeborg Rams’s death in 2022.

Dieter Rams appointed director of product design at Braun.

Rams awarded an honorary RDI (Royal Designer for Industry) by the Royal Society of Arts, London, for distinguished furniture and light-engineering designs.

‘Vitsoe+Zapf’ becomes Wiese Vitsœ GmbH & Co. Niels Vitsø changes ø in his own name – and the ‘oe’ in the company’s name – to an ‘œ’ ligature, in order to appeal to a wider European audience.

The names of Vitsœ products change from RZ xx to take their names from their year of introduction, and the order in which they first appeared on the market, beginning the count at zero: 606 Universal Shelving System, 620 Chair Programme and more.

Vitsœ’s logo and corporate identity are developed by graphic designer Wolfgang Schmidt using Adrian Frutiger’s Univers typeface.

Vitsœ’s first showroom opens on Kaiserhofstraße in Frankfurt, Germany. The company enters a phase of accelerated product-development and builds a dealership network in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark.

620 Chair Programme (RZ 62) accepted into permanent collection of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

The 620 Chair Programme is granted artistic copyright protection by the German Federal Court following legal action regarding plagiarism. The court substantiated: “The design of this chair is a personal, original creation of highly aesthetic value.”

Concerned by the state of the world around him, Dieter Rams develops his ‘Ten principles for good design’.

Dieter Rams delivers a prescient speech in New York titled ‘Design by Vitsœ’ in which he asserts his commitment to responsible design. Niels Vitsœ is sufficiently proud of coverage in The New York Times to use his own handwriting and signature on the subsequent Vitsœ newsletter.

Dieter Rams and Niels Vitsœ grant a licence to Italian furniture manufacturer, De Padova, to produce an aluminium version of the 606 Universal Shelving System.

Mark Adams discovers Vitsœ’s 606 Universal Shelving System at its UK launch in London interiors shop, Reflex.

Mark Adams meets Niels Vitsœ, Dieter Rams and Ingeborg Rams in Frankfurt.

Later that year Adams establishes Vitsœ UK Ltd. A showroom opens in Butler’s Wharf, London, near the Design Museum.

Vitsœ UK Ltd begins manufacturing shelves for the 606 Universal Shelving System in the United Kingdom. Showroom moves to Tyers Gate, London.

Vitsœ’s UK showroom moves to Bermondsey Street, London.

Mark Adams invited to become managing director of Wiese Vitsœ on the retirement of Niels Vitsœ.

Vitsœ UK Ltd becomes Vitsœ Ltd. The corporate seat and production of Rams’s furniture is moved from Germany to the United Kingdom. Production relocates to Islington, London. Wiese Vitsœ closes.

Niels Vitsœ dies, Copenhagen, Denmark, aged 82.

Dieter Rams grants a licence to German furniture manufacturer, sdr+, to begin production of his furniture.

Rams retires from Braun.

Vitsœ expands sales to the United States via retailer Moss in New York.

Introduction of floor-plate stillages for transport between multiple suppliers. The start of zero packaging waste.

Vitsœ opens its first London shop on Wigmore Street.

606 Universal Shelving System accepted into permanent collection of Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Vitsœ’s production building relocates to Camden, London. Reusable cabinet bags are introduced for delivery to customers.

Vitsœ cited in academic paper ‘Towards a sustainable industrial system’ by University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing and Cranfield University.

‘Less & More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams’ is exhibited in Osaka, Japan; then over the following three years in Tokyo; Seoul; London’s Design Museum; and SFMOMA, San Francisco.

Vitsœ’s first US shop opens on Bond Street, New York.

Vitsœ’s London shop moves to Duke Street.

Vitsœ is invited to be founder member of Centre for Industrial Sustainability, University of Cambridge.

Dieter Rams terminates licence with sdr+, Germany. sdr+ production of Rams-designed furniture ceases.

Vitsœ becomes the exclusive worldwide licensee of Dieter Rams’s complete collection of original furniture designs.

Vitsœ ceases distribution via third-party dealers. All sales are now direct to the end-user, worldwide.

620 Chair Programme and 621 Table are re-engineered and relaunched by Vitsœ and Dieter Rams.

Vitsœ shop opens on Türkenstraße, Munich, Germany.

Vitsœ invites customers to subscribe to a mini-bond to raise funds for future expansion.

Vitsœ buys land in Royal Leamington Spa, UK, as location for new production building.

Construction of new Vitsœ production building begins in Royal Leamington Spa, UK.

Dieter Rams terminates licence with De Padova, Italy, for aluminium version of the 606 Universal Shelving System.

Vitsœ shop opens on West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, USA.

‘Rams’, a documentary feature-film by American filmmaker Gary Hustwit – with soundtrack by Brian Eno – is released worldwide.

Vitsœ’s New York shop moves to West 8th Street, New York, USA.

An important court judgment is granted for the 606 Universal Shelving System in which the design of the metal shelf is referred to as “extremely reduced, clear and calm” with “no design elements that cause unrest” and the “highly individually designed shelves consist solely of a thin metal sheet, giving the impression of a flowing lightness.” This became known as the ‘lyrical judgment’.

Vitsœ’s London shop moves to Marylebone Lane, London, UK. Dieter Rams’s presence causes an attraction.

Vitsœ shop opens on Regent Street, Royal Leamington Spa, UK.

De Padova ceases production of the aluminium version of the 606 Universal Shelving System.

Vitsœ cited in ‘The Sufficiency-Based Circular Economy – an analysis of 150 Companies’ by research publisher, Frontiers.

Ingeborg Rams dies, aged 91.

The Supreme Court of Cassation in Italy recognises the 606 Universal Shelving System as a work of art. It is copyright-protected on behalf of Rams and Vitsœ.

Following court successes, an embossed hallmark is added to the Vitsœ metal shelf to prove its authenticity.

With a growing international team Vitsœ delivers directly to more than 90 countries from its UK production building. The quest continues to encourage more people to buy less furniture – and to make it last longer.