70 Years of the Eames Chair: What Makes a Piece of Furniture an Icon?
No piece of furniture is as emblematic of classic modernism as the Vitra Eames Lounge Chair. This year, the design celebrated its 70th anniversary, and I think that's reason enough to dig a little deeper. On the one hand, why the chair looks the way it does and how it came into being. And what does it actually mean for a piece of furniture to become an icon?
The story of our favorite armchair begins not in 1956, but much earlier
Charles and Ray Eames met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. He was an architect, she an artist. In the same year, Charles, together with Eero Saarinen, won a competition organized by MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in New York) for organic design in furniture. Their contribution back then was: seating made from three-dimensionally molded plywood...
What came next had very little to do with furniture design and comfortable armchairs. Because during the Second World War, Charles and Ray received a commission from the US Navy: to produce leg and foot splints from molded plywood for wounded soldiers. They processed the wood adventurously with a self-built "Kazam! Machine" in their own living room. Allegedly even with electricity that Charles simply siphoned off with a long cable from a nearby power pole. But precisely this technique (forcing wood into soft, organic curves under pressure and heat) later became the basis for many of their furniture designs.
The Lounge Chair, which was to come ten years later, was thus, in a way, the result of a decade and a half of material research. From leg splint to living room prestige object, so to speak.
The actual impetus for the design of the Lounge Chair came from a friend, director Billy Wilder. He wanted an armchair for his film breaks that was comfortable enough to fall asleep in, but also elegant enough for his Hollywood office. Charles Eames is said to have described his vision at the time as an armchair that felt like a well-worn baseball glove. And anyone who has had a chance to try it out understands why this image is still so often quoted today. The cushions yield without sagging, and you sit noticeably deeper and more relaxed than in any ordinary armchair. I can certainly imagine Billy Wilder often forgetting his break in it.
The designer couple took the classic English club chair as their model, translating it into a lighter, modern form. This iconic silhouette is truly the perfect balancing act between warm and inviting, but without the ponderous character of old leather armchairs. This is what makes the Lounge Chair so versatile to this day.
In 1956, Herman Miller then publicly introduced the armchair. Two years later, the Swiss company Vitra secured the license for the European market, where the Lounge Chair is still manufactured according to the same basic principle today.
So what makes it an icon?
As is well known, there is no official seal of approval for "design classics". What counts in the end is a mixture of several things: a design language that visually outlives trends, a construction that actually holds up physically well, and a story that people like to retell. The Eames Lounge Chair effortlessly fulfills all three criteria. It is now more than just a design; it is also a cult object and appears in countless films and series, such as in Tony Stark's penthouse or in the law firm of "Suits". More than six million copies have now been sold worldwide. At the same time, Vitra still manufactures it almost unchanged since 1956.
In the end, that's what makes a piece of furniture a classic for us: it not only holds up visually, but also practically. In short: an armchair that hasn't had to be reinvented once in 70 years.
If you are looking for a Lounge Chair yourself, you will currently find several colors and wood finishes with us, including a matching ottoman. Also very fitting for the upcoming official "Day of Relaxation" on August 16.
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