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Toronto retailer Kate Eisen (INabstracto) and art dealer Duncan Farnan have teamed up to revive a Canadian design classic, the Solair chair. Designed in Montreal in 1972 by Fabio Fabiano and Michelange Panzini, the Solair became an iconic fixture in front of motels up and down the North American East Coast and beyond. Toronto’s Beach Motel, one of two surviving lakeshore motels, still has yellow Solairs outside every room, above.

Lightweight and extremely comfortable, the chairs are easy to disassemble and stack. “And people look great sitting in them,” says Eisen, “which is a very important consideration with chairs.”

Three Toronto dealers are selling the revived Solair: Eisen’s INabstracto (1160 Queen Street West, 416.533.6362), EyeSpy (1100 Queen Street East) and SMASH (2880 Dundas Street West). The chairs retail for $120 each and come in a range of original and new colours — tropical orange, tan, white, aquamarine, lime green, hot pink and yellow.

On June 17 Eisen and Farnan are throwing a comeback party for Solair at the Gladstone Hotel (7 - 11 pm). The Solair is well-positioned to be the chair of the summer.