Poltrona Frau puts movement on the surface of Vanity Fair
Created for the 40th anniversary of In Motion, a 40-piece edition of the Vanity Fair XC uses a Futurist artwork by Ivo Pannaggi to connect domestic furniture with the company’s work in transport interiors.
An armchair might seem an unexpected choice to mark four decades of designing for mobility. For Poltrona Frau, the connection lies in upholstery: the material and manufacturing expertise shared by its furniture and its work inside cars, aircraft and yachts. The Vanity Fair XC In Motion Limited Edition makes that relationship visible, applying Ivo Pannaggi’s Dinamismo assoluto della mano sinistra to one of the company’s most recognisable forms.
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Vanity Fair XC In Motion Limited Edition – Highlights:
A furniture icon tells a transport story
The anniversary belongs to In Motion, the Poltrona Frau division established in 1986 with the leather interiors of the Ferrari-engined Lancia Thema 8.32. Its roots reach back further, to bespoke interiors for Vincenzo Lancia’s cars in the 1920s and 1930s. Over the following decades, the division expanded into aviation, yachting and rail, adapting its approach to upholstery to different technical requirements.
A few projects explain the scope of that evolution. For Japan Airlines in 1998–1999, Poltrona Frau worked with Ross Lovegrove on the Sky Sleeper first-class seat. The Pershing 72 project in 2006 extended its contribution to the design of onboard spaces and a helm seat. More recently, the 2021 Pininfarina Teorema concept explored seats that could transform into a bench, chaise longue or bed.
These projects place seating within a wider problem: how people occupy and use a space while travelling. Choosing a domestic armchair for the anniversary brings that work back to a familiar object, making the connection between furniture and transport easier to read.
The hand as a link between art and making
Vanity Fair XC is the contemporary evolution of the Vanity Fair, introduced in 1930 from a design by Renzo Frau. For this edition, its rounded back and substantial rolled arms carry an artwork concerned with movement.
Pannaggi, an Italian artist, architect and set designer associated with second-wave Futurism, made the hand the subject of Dinamismo assoluto della mano sinistra. The choice gives Poltrona Frau a direct link to the manual work behind its products. Movement is expressed through the gesture of making, a subject that connects the mobility division to the company’s broader manufacturing identity.
Giovanni Maiolo, General Manager of Poltrona Frau In Motion, describes the selection in those terms: the hand as a creative and design gesture, translated into a graphic applied to leather. The artwork gives the anniversary edition a subject rooted in how the company works.
Digital printing changes how the chair is read
The illustration is digitally printed on Pelle Frau ColorSphere Impact Less leather. Warm shades of amber, ochre, burnt orange and tobacco give the upholstery a markedly different character. The strongest graphic elements occupy the backrest, while further forms extend across the arms and lower front of the chair.
The pale ground leaves the upholstered volumes clearly legible. Curves, seams and separate panels remain part of the composition, so the image is experienced across a three-dimensional object. This is the edition’s central design move: an existing form acquires a new visual identity through its surface.
Poltrona Frau places the leather within its programme of material and tanning-process development begun in 2022. The project also shows a specific use for digital printing in furniture: carrying an artwork onto the upholstery while retaining the recognisable silhouette of the original model.
Forty numbered pieces
The edition comprises 40 numbered armchairs, matching the anniversary. Each has a brass plate with a gold finish on the back, bearing the product name and edition number, and comes with a certificate of authenticity. The launch was set for 4 September 2026 through Poltrona Frau’s e-commerce platform and selected brand stores worldwide.
For Poltrona Frau, the chair gives a visible identity to expertise often encountered inside another manufacturer’s product. For designers, it offers a focused example of how an established piece can take on a new role through the choice of image, material and application. Its interest rests in that relationship: a familiar domestic seat becomes a way to read the company’s work beyond the home.
