Modernisim and the Playboy Fantasy

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FURNITURE MODERNISM AND THE

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BY PAUL STEWART

ACHELORDOM was never more fashionable and aspirational than in the Mad Men 1960s. For a single man about town it was an era of chic design, pleasure-seeking, speed and glamour.

The world looked to a booming post-War America, which was a brighter, sexier, more liberated place than the one its parents knew.

And on the coffee table in the lounge of any self-respecting cad-pad, beside the huge onyx ciggie lighter, there would be, in all probability, a copy of American Playboy. Through its pages, the dreamscape of this seemingly attainable lifestyle was subliminally drip-fed to the reader through photoshoots and selective sponsorship, hoodwinking a ‘top shelf ’ magazine audience looking for lust into an altogether more materialist cultural agenda.

The mantra among subscribers to this upper-class skin mag was that they “read them for the articles”. And, flicking through the pages of issues from the late 1950s to early 1970s does indeed reveal, alongside the erotic photography, intelligently written and researched interviews with influential peers of the time, savvy copy on art, literature, politics, music and lifestyle.

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The exhibition at the DAM © Uwe Dettmar

One of the ‘Bunny’s Honeys’ in a Butterfly Chair, designed in 1938 by Jorge Ferrari-Hardoyx. © Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.

The Designs for Living article was featured in July 1961 - the photos of nude women in modern chairs were to entice men to buy the furniture!

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For, as well as erotica, Playboy offered its reader a political view through carefully selected book reviews, interviews with influential thinkers and politicians and essays from intellectuals, rounding off the complete package and supplying the reader with a wider view of the society in which he was existing and that most treasured gift of sophistication – a well-informed mind. Whether he was trying to impress the boss on the golf course for that promotion or entice some young debutante for a ride in his Sunbeam, the world was now his to have.

But the eroticism is also buried between pages and pages dedicated to hi-fi systems and adverts for Bourbon and socks. This Madison Avenue-created world sits alongside editorial tightly focused on its target audiences. Articles drool with sumptuous props and furniture reflecting the influence of Modernism and the avant-garde that hung round the street corners of modern day life. A cheap thrill it was not – this was serious business. A recent exhibition in Frankfurt am Main, Playboy Archi-

VINTAGE COLLECTIVE MEMBER

In an exhibition on the gilded age 1953 to 1979 it’s the décor not the girls that makes the impact

PLAYBOY FANTASY

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© Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.

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mantiques tecture, 1953-1979, immersed the visitor in this captivating world, so we took it upon ourselves to visit the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) on your behalf.

Architectural historian Beatriz Colomina from Princeton University curated the show, the first of its kind in a German-speaking country and, what was apparent as you walked through the spaces bringing the pages to life is that even though you were seeing it in front of you, it still felt like a fantasy.

That is the craft that these style-preneurs plied when they assembled their wares for print. In the first section of the exhibition an archive of every single issue of the magazine from 1953 to 1979 could be viewed, whetting the appetite but also an assault on the eyes – even for those already familiar with the kind of content the magazine is famous for.

Next came the centrepiece of any man’s life – the bachelor pad. This is where he did his wooing, drank a Campari and soda, played his Coltrane LPs, smoked a Chesterfield King and

hung his Sta-Prest pants (that’s trousers to us Brits).

Interestingly, ‘Playboy’s Penthouse Apartment’, a lavish 12-page vision of the ultimate bachelor pad, published in the September and October issues of 1956, was the most popular feature up to that time – even surpassing the Playmates the magazine was renowned for. It drew hundreds of letters from readers requesting information on where they could buy the furnishings pictured in the layouts.

A man’s surroundings reflect so much of him and, for the first time, a magazine became influential to the design-savvy chap. It would be easy to use the term love-nest but it is more than that; the magazine promoted the art of furnishing and contemporary living directly to its audience in a way that they understood – probably because the readership wasn’t too dissimilar to the writers, editors and photographers who put it together.

For the first time, it was acceptable and affordable to own your own home, choose furniture, and decorate, without the necessity of the

The Playboy Town House. The fantasy bachelor pad, designed by architect R. Donald Jaye, was brought to life by Humen Ten's fantastic gouache and ink renderings; one of which was sold at Christie's in 2003 for more than $10,000!

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An advert from the June 1963 issue of Playboy featuring a leather chair

by Knoll and all the essential accessories for the modern man!

nuclear family unit. Interiors were en- ‘INTERIORS WERE hanced by scantily-dressed nubile girls lounging on a white sofa or an orange ENHANCED BY rug in front of a huge hi-fi system. SCANTILY-DRESSED These interiors were made for enterNUBILE GIRLS taining; no cosiness here – leisure, love and temptation are written all over it. LOUNGING ON A Even the colourful illustrations depicted WHITE SOFA OR AN a role-model home and what man ORANGE RUG IN wouldn’t want that? Competitiveness on the sports field and in the office had FRONT OF A HUGE moved into the male domain; the latest HI-FI SYSTEM’ gadgets, the neatest lines and the wackiest modernist prints were the must-haves and became integral to a man’s status.

Undoubtedly, the married reader sneaking a look into this male fantasy world would want a piece of the action, so would grab a smattering of furnishings to effect a pseudo-bachelor corner or wall within the relatively safe confines of his suburban home ‘den’.

Before long, detailed market analysis of the latest music systems, golf Architect: R. Donald Jaye, drawing: Humen Tan, May 1962 Playboy Issue. © Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.

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mantiques Architect: R. Donald Jaye, drawing: Humen Tan, May 1962 Playboy Issue. © Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.

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Architect: R. Donald Jaye, drawing: Humen Tan, May 1962 Playboy Issue. © Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.

clubs and watches followed, ensuring every aspect of life could be aligned the Playboy way.

A clever synergy was emerging between aspiration and desire. Photographs of furniture became centrefolds, with chairs by designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Roberto Matta and Frank Gehry the objects of desire as much as were the models draped provocatively over them.

Associated with desire, the lines often reflected those of a woman or a rare flower. These pieces of furniture became the focus, placed in the middle of a room – not used, often, but seen as works of art. To this day, we adopt this stance with an original piece: its form admired, representing beauty and function. www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

This ideal home reflected the other aspects of the ideal man’s life: the office building he works in is neat and sleek, his hair is trim, the creases in his ‘pants’ are pressed and his affairs in order. There is no mess or clutter and no time for idling in his life as the next cocktail party or country drive is just around the corner!

Over the decades since, the bunny insignia has lost its way a little, used now on everything from mobile phone covers to T-shirts. But in its purest form, on a cuff link or tie pin, it said so much about the wearer. It said more about the kind of apartment he had, his political views, his choice in music, and maybe even the kind of holidays he took, than a ring tone ever could today. ve

Dominating the room, is without question the Town House’s most dramatic piece of furniture, the Rotating Bed. The headboard is fully outfitted to include a built in bar and refrigerator!

With thanks to: www.museumsufer-frankfurt.de

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