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CLÁSICOS MEXICANOS is a Mexican brand specialized in collectible design from 20th Century Mexico.
Clásicos Mexicanos opened its doors in 2018. More than a design brand, Clásicos Mexicanos is an ongoing search for a collection that tells a larger story about architecture and design which patiently and painstakingly we continue to grow, always with an eye on the present.
Our aim at Clásicos Mexicanos is to revisit the Mexican 20th Century through objects, to make the past palpable, and to progressively assemble a tentative history of Mexican design through the pieces that we retrieve, develop and produce.
With the help of our teams, we research the archives, develop the pieces that are selected for our collection in collaboration with their authors or estates, and make them available to our expanding public of design lovers and collectors. Ours is as much a work of production as it is a work of love for the histories of architecture and design.
Design has been a significant aspect of what has made Mexican architecture a subject of study and fascination for many around the world, yet this world of architecture is as much about the buildings as it is about interiors, the objects and furniture that were conceived, almost always, specifically for each architectural project.
At Clásicos Mexicanos we have made it our mission to explore this world of interiors, of objects and furniture, and to carefully extract from that world those pieces that tell an important part of a larger history: lamps, rugs, chairs, desks, tapestries, and even door handles can tell an important story if one is attentive enough to even the smallest of details.
We consider that each work of art has an original moment and one or several afterlives. A key aspect of our project is to provide the right conditions for these designs to live now, to be seen anew, and to act in our present as traces of a larger history of forms and of functional design.
For us to produce these objects today is as much a form of recognition of these great actors, their creations and their stories, as it is about the present and how these objects have endured the passing of time.
Exhibition at Clásicos Mexicanos’ first location at Tres Picos in Polanco, Mexico City
Amalia Hernández’ Mexican School of Folkloric Ballet, designed by Architect Agustín Hernández
Blueprint of Armando Franco’s SL4 COFRAN Chair
We see our collection as a tentative history of design and interior architecture of 20th Century Mexico. Hours of research and collective discussions are distilled into each decision we make, each addition to our carefully constructed catalogue of pieces. We consider every name to be essential to our project, from the most renowned ones to those that have been somewhat obscured by time. Patiently and deliberately we have begun our process by seeking out eccentric things, that is, objects that have not necessarily circulated widely in the main narratives of Mexican design and architecture, but which merit close attention.
We are devoted to telling a larger story, and this devotion is also a commitment to time and patience, to the painstaking process of discovering exquisite pieces that have endured time. Rather than focusing on the uniqueness of Mexico, our endeavor is to bring into focus the multiple exchanges that have taken place over a century, exchanges that are aesthetic as well as intellectual and that express the multiplicity of people, foreigners as well as locals, that have contributed to this larger picture.
The MEZQUITIC Chair, designed by Roberto Eibenschutz in 1965
Kvadrat Tonica 2 Fabric
Kvadrat Hallingdal 65
In order to transmit time through our pieces, we must find the right materials and partners. For our upholstered chairs we have found a superb partner in Kvadrat textiles, from whom we source the fabric Tonica 2 for The Eco Chair and Hallingdal 65 for the Tepoztlán chair. These textiles have the unique quality of referring us to the past while still seeming contemporary.
Each piece that we make provides a link to a Mexican history of design and architecture. But they are also very much from our time, as the craft has evolved with time, surviving industrialization, and because the woods, leathers, and textiles have also evolved.
In order to transmit time through our pieces, we must find the right materials and partners. For our upholstered chairs we have found a superb partner in Kvadrat textiles, from whom we source the fabric Tonica 2 for The Eco Chair and Hallingdal 65 for The Tepoztlán chair. These textiles have the unique quality of referering us to the past while still seeming contemporary.
All our woods and leathers are sourced within the highest sustainability international standards. Our woods are sourced from sustainable forests and treated in certified processing plants. Similarly, we obtain the leathers we use from certified, conscious producers and retailers. For us, it’s just as important to be responsible with our environment as it is to create wonderfully unique pieces.
