The “Costes” chair was used by Philippe Starck in 1981 to furnish the famous Café Costes in Paris, characterized by the use of models that were extremely functional, resistant and made of simple materials. Starck used a tripod shape to avoid making it too bulky, which would have hindered the movements of the waiters. The larger version of the chair retrieves the tripod model; it was created a year later for the office of French President Francois Mitterrand at the Élisées. Undisputed symbols of elegance and comfort, the chair and armchair (the latter also known as “Pratfall”) became from the 1980s true icons of contemporary design. Black lacquered tubular steel frame, bent plywood shell in veneered mahogany, natural or lacquered. Seat padded with polyurethane foam and covered with leather or fabric.