To be one of the most iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Barcelona Chair have become known for a lot of things. One of which is that it is very expensive. The Barcelona chair was designed by the famous German architect and Bahaus disciple Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, it was dubbed as a design “worthy of kings”, and its cost certainly mirrors this: the original price tag of the chair was more than $ 6,000. Although a licensed piece would still fetch about $2,000 but now, thanks to the improved manufacturing techniques the price has gone down significantly.

And because of this, with fake Barcelona Chair being sold with only a fraction of the price of that of a licensed piece the Barcelona, this Barcelona chair is the hot target for forgeries.
Fake Barcelona chairs have proliferated the market both offline and online because of their very low prices and relatively brisk demand. These fake goods are manufactured some in China, Argentina, Thailand, and Germany and often sold at the lowest possible price. The reason for this is because the materials used for these fake chairs are sourced locally unlike the licensed Barcelona chairs which are made from high quality imported materials. It negatively affects the quality of the finished products due to this drastically cuts manufacturing costs. With some being almost identical to the real thing to very poor imitations the quality of unlicensed Barcelona chair reproductions varies.

Different ways can be done and are often difficult for the untrained eye when examining a fake from the real Barcelona chair. But, by looking at the cushions is one of the easiest methods of knowing whether Barcelona chairs are fakes. Those found on fake ones cushions are often oversized and stand out from the rest of the structure while from officially licensed chairs are formed accordingly with the frame’s slightly curved shape. The back cushions from licensed chairs are firmly secured with a series of press studs that are hidden from plain view and perfectly aligned to the steel frame. While this Fake Barcelona chairs often use unwieldy straps and belts to secure the cushions to the frame.

By looking at the gap between the back and the seat cushion is another method of knowing whether a Barcelona chair is authentic. Forgeries often have a considerable gap of about an inch but officially licensed Barcelona Chairs have almost a non existing gap between the two cushions. The leather is generally heavier and rough to the touch and the upholsteries from fake chairs are also usually sewn together with interrupting seams.