Optimizing the function while uncompromisingly reducing the form to the essentials. Going beyond the familiar to discover a new, better solution, time and again. It was precisely these maxims that Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was following when he created the legendary Porsche 911. It was the birth of an icon. His vision of transferring the principles and legend of Porsche from the automobile world to other product categories led to him founding the Porsche Design studio in Stuttgart in 1972. The rest is history. 50 years of design history.
1972–2022: DESIGN THAT’S AHEAD OF ITS TIME
In 2022, Porsche Design celebrates 50 years of engineered passion. The philosophy of F. A. Porsche and his simple, rational design language live on in all Porsche Design creations to this day. Each product embodies extraordinary precision and performance at a high technological level. The result is invariably a union of intelligent function and purist design. In keeping with the founder’s philosophy, the designers continually manage to take inspiration from the world of sports cars and transform it into extraordinary product innovations. Examples include luggage made of technical carbon, glasses mounted like the windshield of a Porsche, and a chronograph operated by an innovative paddle control system.
THE ZERO HOUR: THE CHRONOGRAPH I
The legendary Chronograph I laid the foundation for the purist style of Porsche Design in the very year of its founding: 1972. For the first time, F. A. Porsche transferred the design principles of an automobile to another product category, creating the first-ever black chronograph.
It was a revolution in a society that, at the time, regarded watches more as decorative accessories. By contrast, F. A. Porsche designed them as precise measuring instruments, derived from the easy-to-read, anti-glare dashboard of the Porsche 911. Initial reactions were skeptical, but soon the watch world was fascinated. The Chronograph I became an icon – and paved the way for further designs that were ahead of their time.
CREATING AN ICONIC BRAND, ONE MILESTONE AT A TIME
With the P'8478, Porsche Design developed the world’s first sunglasses with interchangeable lenses in 1978. The exclusive glasses with tear drop-shaped lenses were a sensation and marked the beginning of the legendary success story of Porsche Design Eyewear. Two years later, Porsche Design revolutionized the watch world for a second time when it presented the world’s first titanium chronograph. This was followed by additional milestones that went down in design history, and have found their place in daily life thanks to their timeless form and optimal functionality. Among them is the Tec Flex ballpoint pen made of highly elastic woven stainless steel, introduced in 1999, and the Book One from 2017, the first 2-in-1 notebook in the history of Porsche Design. The Monobloc Actuator, the first chronograph with paddle control, was launched in 2018. The 1919 Globetimer UTC, an innovative world timepiece with radically simplified operability, followed just a year later.
