The Designer / 

FLER

Australian company FLER, an anacronym of the two owners Fred Lowen and Ernst Rodeck; two friends who met at a Jewish Concentration Camp during WW11, who later migrated to Australia. Together the two friends became built one of Australia's leading furniture manufacturers, becoming one of Australia's most prominent designer-duos of the 20th Century. They started their workshop in a
horse stable with little knowledge of wood and manufacturing techniques. In 1948, with the help of Fred Ward (who at the time was designing for Myer Emporium) they produced simple spindle legged dining chairs. The range expanded to include dining, bedroom and lounge furniture. This was the beginning of a design oeuvre that lasted almost two decades. Some of their designs were featured in the Australian Pavilion at the Montreal Expo in 196 alongside other prominent designers such as Grant and Mary Featherston. The partnership was hugely successful with a clean and attractive aesthetic that epitomized the progressive post-war optimism of the time. In 1968, Fred Lowen left Fler to start his own company, Twen, later known as Tessa, still in operation today.