OVER TIME
Upon his return from the trenches, François Péjaudier decided to do his part to help his country rebuild. He designed a bed made of copper that would help furnish households devastated by the war. He named it the "national bed" (lit national). The model was so successful that its name lives on as the name of our company, a change that came a few years later.
Buoyed by the booming economy, François Péjaudier renamed his company Les Usines Nationales de Literie and opened a large manufacturing site at 7 Rue Baudin in the Parisian suburb of Pré-Saint-Gervais. Adverts featured the electric-powered factory and fantastic imagery highlighting our progressive, forward-looking ambitions.
Upon his release, Georges got busy rebuilding. He changed the company's name from Les Usines Nationales de Literie to Le Lit National F. Péjaudier and refocused the business on producing traditional, hand-crafted beds. He asked one of the era's most popular poster artists, Jacques Auriac, to design the brand image and launched the "Trust your sleep to Lit National" slogan (Confiez votre sommeil au Lit National).
Originally designed for the Paris Housewares Show, the Duo-Rêve changed the way people slept. With its slogan, "A good night's sleep together, a mattress to yourself", the first bed to offer individualised and customisable comfort and more spacious dimensions became the new face of Lit National.
After the original wooden factory was ravaged by fire in 1962, a new production centre was built at 7 Rue Baudin. To this day, these workshops are staffed by talented craftspeople (woodworkers, bedmakers, upholsterers, mattress makers and needleworkers) who continue to pass on their precious knowledge.
The Beaufour-Lévy family purchased Lit National with the intention of giving our century of traditional expertise a new lease on life. Significant investments were made to ensure that the expert craftspeople in our workshops could continue to employ their expertise and creativity and indulge their passion for superior materials and precise, skilful technique.
To celebrate this anniversary, we designed a collection that pays tribute to great 20th century design. Inspired by Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modernism and Pop Art, these models were built in our Pré-Saint-Gervais production centre and showcased in interiors designed by Victor Cadene.
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