René Herbst

Born in Paris in 1891, René Herbst studied architecture in London and Frankfurt; after finishing his studies, he traveled extensively in Russia and Italy, by 1919 René Herbst was again in Paris, where he started working as a furniture designer and interior decorator. He founded Établissements René Herbst to produce the pieces he designed.
In 1927 René Herbst designed the revolutionary and functional “Chaise Sandows” seat furniture. The frames were nickel-plated tubular steel, the seat and back was made of rubber strips stretched taut and fastened to the frame by hooks at the end.
The French architect turned designer was nicknamed the "man of steel" because he pioneered the use of the material for furniture years before mass production on a large scale was possible. In 1929 he created several versions of his celebrated Sandow Chair, which ignited his research into serial production and inaugurated the era of mass production.
In 1930 Herbst joined Robert Mallet-Stevens, Francis Jourdain, and others in founding the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM), a founded as a countermovement to Art déco. In 1945 René Herbst was elected chairman of the UAM.