Communist Era-Inspired Furniture in Beijing

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A while back a reader sent in a tip about Lost & Found, a store in the Chaoyang district of Beijing owned by ex-pat American Paul Gelinas and local Xiao Mao. Since then, the pair has expanded their offerings (including a new line of clothing for men and women and housewares to come) and relaunched their website. While many Chinese embrace the modern furnishings at Ikea, Gelinas and Mao look for value in everyday pieces from the past, taking inspiration from classic midcentury Chinese designs (call it communist chic) and reproducing them locally as limited editions.

N.B. Summer House in Mill Valley, California carries select pieces from the line.

Above: Lost & Found is housed in a former dumpling shop on one of Beijing’s oldest streets.

Above: The building was renovated and redesigned by New Architecture Office, the collaborative office of Gelinas and colleague Phil Dunn.

Above: The Danish Chair and Footstool are both, as the designers say, “a Chinese knock-off of a Japanese knock-off of a Danish original. But like the photograph of a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy, the original details have long since dissolved, while the essential character has become more and more clear.” Priced at

Communist Era-Inspired Furniture in Beijing