René Herbst was a key figure in French modernism. Active between the 1920s and 1930s, he is known for introducing a radically new language to furniture design, based on the use of industrial materials such as tubular steel, rubber, and stretch fabrics. His research aimed for functional, accessible design that was in keeping with the spirit of the era, breaking with bourgeois decorative tradition. Herbst made a decisive contribution to the definition of a modern, rational, and social aesthetic, in dialogue with architecture and industry.