You may not know it, but you've seen an Eames Lounge Chair. OK, OK, I’m no mind reader, but the Eames Lounge Chair is an icon of modern American design. First launched in 1956 as the Eames Lounge (670) and Ottoman (671) (the latter being the small footstool that comes with it), the chair’s co-designer Charles Eames described it as being "comfortable and un-designy". It’s that discrete, familiar comfort that made this most famous Eames chair (for Charles and his wife Ray designed many) an icon of the Modern movement and as ubiquitous a piece of unshowy but stylish design as a Vettriano painting.
It’s also why I knowyou’ve seen one. Even if you don’t think you have. Joey and Chandler had one in their apartment in “Friends”. Donald Draper and Dr Gregory House both have them in their offices. Doctor Who took a doze in one back in the Sixties. It’s hard to describe the piece without pictures, but I’ll try. The Eames chair almost resembles a bucket seat in design. Its back, arms and seat are joined together by aluminium supports. The whole thing leans slightly backwards on its swivel base, elevating the sitter’s legs and giving them little option but to relax their weight backwards into the seat. The raising of the sitter's legs makes the accompanying footstool (it's that Ottoman again) near essential and the whole thing almost ridiculously comfortable.
My citation of so many television appearances isn’t accidental. You can't seperate the reasons for the Eames Lounge Chair's versatility and its many appearances in popular culture. It was unveiled in 1956, on the “Home” show, NBC’s hugely popular daytime magazine programme fronted by actress and game show panellist Arlene Francis. A huge advertising campaign followed immediately. The campaign - which showed the Eames chair in a variety of unlikely locales including a hay field, a Victorian parlour and on the front porch of a house straight out of the America Gothic - focused on the Eames chair’s versatility. It’s that same versatility which explains its continuous place in popular culture - and, in particular, the American popular imagination. The Eames Lounge Chair is comfortable yet smart, stylish yet understated. That’s why it can sit as easily in Frasier’s luxurious Seattle apartment as it can in Iron Man’s cluttered workshop.
The Eames Lounge Chair has been in continuous production ever since. In America, Herman Miller have continued to turn out units since its premier in 1956, while Vitra have continued to produce it for the American market. It has also inspired replicas, imitations and knock offs of varying quality - China being the source of many. Some replicas can be of extremely poor quality. Spray painted cushions, exposed screws and poor quality materials are amongst the complaints that have come from those who bought cheap, fast buck knock offs. On the other hand, some replica Eames Lounge Chairs have been hailed as even better than the originals, offering increased versatility and the option to customise the colours of your purchase to fit your tastes and the design of your home or office.
The Eames Lounge Chair has long been an icon of usability and style. You’ve seen it so many times that you don’t even realise it. Now you’ve come to understand why it’s so popular, maybe it’s time you started paying it a bit more attention.
