Brad Pitt’s Housing Foundation Settles for $20.5M, Maker & Son Acquired by Inc & Co, and More News

From significant business changes to noteworthy product launches, there’s always something new happening in the world of design. In this biweekly roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know. 

Business

Maker & Son acquired by Inc & Co

Amid the chaos of financial and supply-chain setbacks, as well as a slew of layoffs and unfulfilled orders, British furniture start-up Maker & Son has been acquired by Manchester investment group Inc & Co in a multimillion pound deal. Founded in 2018 by Alex Willcock and his son Felix Conran—the grandson of design and retail legend Terence Conran—Maker & Son’s profile rose during the pandemic with its sustainably made, sink-into sofas and beds cleverly sold via a fleet of roving vans. It’s still unclear the specific roles Willcock and Conran will hold in this new era for the company, but budding firm Inc & Co, which has a number of retail, property, digital, food and beverage, and logistics holdings, is already getting the brand back on track with a new manufacturing partner in the US.

Decorist taps Forbes + Masters

Tavia Forbes and Monet Masters, the design talents behind Atlanta studio Forbes + Masters, possess a love for color and graphics. That affinity for the bold shines through in the commodious poolside patio they dreamed up for online design hub Decorist’s Home Room series. For the breezy hangout they curated a fashionable mix of outdoor-proof items. A tactile Burke Decor teak stool and a Crate & Barrel wall-mounted black-coated steel planter, for example, meld with a serpentine wicker dining chair from France and Son and cilantro-hued Sunbrella lumbar pillows.

Product Launches

Vitra updates Jean Prouvé furniture

Jean Prouvé’s splendorous designs for Vitra were first unveiled in 2002, 18 years after his death, in close collaboration with his family. Now the Swiss furniture brand is bolstering its lineup of the French designer’s works with several reissues available September 20. There is the conical Abat-Jour Conique shade that Prouvé created in 1947 for his Potence wall lamp, as well as the Rayonnage Mural, the wall-mounted shelving unit he designed in 1936 for the École National Professionelle in Metz. Two stools, the saddle-shaped oak Tabouret N° 307, and bent sheet metal Tabouret Métallique, are also making an appearance, as is a second limited-edition offering of Prouvé’s Kangourou chair that pairs a dark oak base with metal legs in Prouvé’s Blanc  Colombe colorway with light bouclé fabric cushions juxtaposed with dark brown piping. The refresh also makes way for Gris Vermeer, Bleu Dynastie, Blé Vert, Bleu Marcoule, and Métal Brut from the original Prouvé palette.