[2] In the mid-1960s, he met Willi Fehlbaum from the furniture manufacturer Vitra who, unlike many other producers, was fascinated with the drawings of his legless chair in plastic rather than wood, the favoured material of the times.

The first rather heavy model, which required substantial finishing work, was subsequently improved and adapted to industrial production using thermoplastic polystyrene which led to a marked reduction in cost.

[4] In 1968, Vitra initiated serial production of the final version which was sold by the Herman Miller Furniture Company.

Four years later, the model was again produced as the Panton Chair Classic, this time in the rather more expensive polyurethane structural foam.

In 1970, it was featured in the British fashion magazine Nova with a sequence of shots illustrating "How to undress in front of your husband".

[7] The Panton Chair S shape design continues to be popular today, and has been re-imagined in exotic materials such as rattan, bamboo, and even banana leaf.