1934–2034.
The Kaplan Century
1934.
A Story Rooted in the Mountains
In 1934, in the heart of the Orlické Mountains, joiner Karel Kaplan embarked on his greatest ambition: to create his very first chair. That single chair would spark a generational journey.
Karel’s tenacious inquisitiveness quickly grew his workshop into a team of 20. The outbreak of World War II nearly halted operations when Karel was conscripted to the front—but his wife, Pavla, kept the workshop alive by turning her hand to coffin making.
1951.
Under the Dictate of the Collective
What the family managed to preserve through the war, they could no longer save after the Communist coup. A brief period of post-war revival was quickly overshadowed by collectivisation. It swallowed up joiners, brushmakers, and their workshops across the entire region.
Pavla burned everything that could even remotely point to the family craft. But Karel continued. He kept working on his own machines — even though they no longer belonged to him.
He was helped by his son, who spent his entire life using his father’s confiscated machines to prototype design pieces brought in from the West.
1980.
The Workshop Is Inherited. So Is Resolve
Karel’s grandson, Pavel, refuses to work for the state cooperative. As a graduation gift, his grandfather — the founder of the family craft — hands him an old family cottage with a drying shed and a workshop. After graduating from the School of Applied Arts, he begins working for the state company Umělecká řemesla (Arts and Crafts) as a self-employed artisan.
Pavel returns home. Together with his grandfather, he keeps the family woodworking tradition alive — even under the pressure of the regime. They furnish nearby cottages with windows and deliver their furniture to Prague. The tradition of family craft, though quiet, endures.
1990.
A Turning Point Between Two Chapters
As the regime finally collapses at the end of the 1980s, everything suddenly becomes possible. Before building his own house, Pavel erects a new workshop next to his grandfather’s cottage. From the surrounding hills, he gathers his first employees — and sets to work.
The family establishes contacts across Europe, gaining a masterclass in technique and detail. They experiment with the full spectrum of furniture, only to return, in the end, to where it all began: to the chair and the table.
2010.
The Stors Begins — Again
In the new millennium, the workshop in Orličky finds a new breath — this time in the field of design. It’s thanks to Lukáš, the founder’s great-grandson, whose courage and deep knowledge of wood allow him to introduce the most precise modern technologies into production over the following years. A century-old craft gradually takes on a contemporary form.
Kaplan draws attention at design shows and design trade fairs. Each new piece earns awards, and orders begin to arrive as soon as prototypes are unveiled. Every new collection becomes a greater adventure than the last — just like the very first chair in 1934.
