The Iconic Eames Lounge Chair

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The first chair created by American design couple Charles and Ray Eames for the luxury market has been in our homes for 56 years. The Eames Lounge Chair adorns all kinds of spaces and we want to show you just how impressive this chair is. With time, comes experience, which can be translated here in this design’s availability in different colors and large range of materials, which construct a distinct atmosphere around it. Entangled in a story that promises to continue, molded plywood and leather were combined in what would become an iconic design. Some details were changed over the years, adapting the production to modern technology – the original chair was made out of five layers of Brazilian rosewood veneer, while the modern version displays seven thin wood veneer layers shaped under heat and pressure. Comfy cushions have a zipper on the outer edge, connecting them to a stiff plastic backing that allowed the veneer to be smooth, uninterrupted by marks of screws or bolts.

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This fruitful collaboration between the husband/wife team of designers and the manufacturers –  Herman Miller furniture company – resulted in developing an internationally appreciated lounge chair, initially designed as a gift for the couple’s friend Billy Wilder, the director of “Some Like It Hot” and “Sunset Blvd“. Years of development led to the release of the iconic Eames Chair in 1956 and since then, it not only inspired other furniture items or objects, but it has remained a versatile piece of furniture still being produced for the US by Herman Miller and for Europe by Vitra (see here a video on how Vitra manufactures the Eames). During its “reign”, the original Eames Chair and Ottoman has seen many copies being made – if only they had so many sources as we do now for protecting their work from design thieves – but we are all familiar with the striking impact of an original piece of furniture.