Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman Click on image to zoom Designers: Charles and Ray EamesThe lounge chair and ottoman have their origin in Charles and Ray’s investigations into molding plywood and a desire to improve upon a familiar fixture in many living rooms: the lounge chair. Citing the English club chair as inspiration, Charles said he sought to design a modern version of that chair, one that had “the warm receptive look of a well-used first baseman's mitt.” Almost immediately, the design became an icon of American design. Today, these pieces not only live in museums, but continue to offer comfort and style to interiors around the world. A universally recognized form, the set is available in a variety of veneers, multiple leather options, and two sizes. Whatever selection you make, you can be assured of the quality and authenticity of this design. Configure Your Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman Own a True Icon of Modern Design When the set was introduced in 1956, there was nothing like it, and there is still nothing to equal it.
The Eameses' modern take on a 19th century club chair has not only endured for more than 50 years, it has become one of the most significant furniture designs of the 20th century—instantly recognizable and enduringly fresh. Like all classics, the chair and ottoman get better with age, in part because of how they are made. From the innovative hardware that fastens the cushions to the shells without marring the appearance of the wood to the fact that each piece continues to be assembled by hand, the combination of craft and manufacturing consistency results in pieces that are genuinely authentic. "A special refuge from the strains of modern living." The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman has become so recognizable that its configuration is now a registered trademark. That form and the materials used to create it are an integral part of the experience the set delivers. Today, the chair and ottoman are available in a variety of veneers, multiple leather options, and two sizes.
The same high level of quality and workmanship is guaranteed, regardless of the selection you make. Choose contract-grade or our MCL Leather, which possesses a striking balance among softness, durability, and color-fastness. MCL Leather is a premium, semi-aniline, dyed leather with 100 percent natural full grain. Color variations and surface marks are an inherent characteristic of this material, which will acquire wrinkles and creases and develop a rich patina over time. An oiled finish is available for walnut and santos palisander veneers. It closely matches the look and feel of the finish used on the original rosewood chair, and will need to be maintained with periodic hand oiling. You can also choose the standard, high-performance lacquered plywood shell in wood veneer. The lacquered finish requires nothing more than dusting. Luxurious Comfort and Support The comfort and support built into the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman help explain their enduring popularity.
A dynamic blend of hand-craftsmanship and mass production techniques makes this possible. The cushions will not flatten or clump over time. As Charles Eames described them, "The leather cushions do have built-in wrinkles to start with, but that is a clue that spells comfort to come, like the warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman's mitt." Each hide used for the cushions possesses variations that are a natural occurrence in leather, and each will age to reveal its own unique personality. The seat is permanently tilted to take the weight off your lower spine and distribute it properly to the back of the chair. The lower cushion piece supports your lower back, so you feel relaxed. The angle supports your chest so that you can be comfortable as you read, watch a movie, or have a conversation. A Place of Rest The ottoman also provides a health benefit. Most of us sit or stand all day, so blood collects in the lower extremities. Resting your feet on the ottoman helps restore normal blood circulation.
Like all classics, the chair and ottoman get better with age. Both are hand-assembled with great attention paid to the details. Shells are 7-ply veneers. Cushions are individually upholstered and replaceable. The back braces and bases—of both the chair and ottoman—are die-cast aluminum. The chair base has a built-in swivel mechanism. Shock mounts are resilient natural rubber. Stainless steel glides are adjustable.The Stool 60 Giveaway. Sign up for our emails and a chance to win this ingenious stackable stool. Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec Charles and Ray Eames Sam Hecht and Kim Colin You've been added to our mailing list. Please enter a valid email addressExperience the New Aeron Because work has changed, we made our best chair work even better. Made for the person, the landscape, and the world Herman Miller Online Store It’s easy to fall in love with Eames Shell ChairsCharles Eames and Ray Eames were the embodiment of the inventiveness, energy and optimism at the heart of mid-century modern American design, and have been recognized as the most influential designers of the 20th century.
As furniture designers, filmmakers, artists, textile and graphic designers and even toy and puzzle makers, the Eameses were a visionary and effective force for the notion that design should be an agent of positive change. They are the happy, ever-curious, ever-adventurous faces of modernism. Charles studied architecture and industrial design. Ray (née Beatrice Alexandra Kaiser) was an artist, who studied under the abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann. They met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Detroit (where Charles also met his frequent collaborator Eero Saarinen and the artist and designer Harry Bertoia) and married the next year. His technical skills and her artistic flair were wonderfully complementary. They moved to Los Angeles in 1941, where Charles worked on set design for MGM. In the evenings at their apartment, they experimented with molded plywood using a handmade heat-and-pressurization device they called the “Kazam!” machine. The next year, they won a contract from the U.S. Navy for lightweight plywood leg splints for wounded servicemen — they are coveted collectibles today;
more so those that Ray used to make sculptures. The Navy contract allowed Charles to open a professional studio, and the attention-grabbing plywood furniture the firm produced prompted George Nelson, the director of design of the furniture-maker Herman Miller Inc., to enlist Charles and (by association, if not by contract) Ray in 1946. Some of the first Eames items to emerge from Herman Miller are now classics: the “LCW,” or Lounge Chair Wood, and the “DCM,” or Dining Chair Metal, supported by tubular steel. The Eameses eagerly embraced new technology and materials, and one of their peculiar talents was to imbue their supremely modern design with references to folk traditions. Their “Wire Chair” group of the 1950s, for example, was inspired by basket weaving techniques. The populist notion of “good design for all” drove their “Molded Fiberglass” chair series that same decade, and also produced the organic-form, ever-delightful “La Chaise.” In 1956 the “Lounge Chair” and ottoman appeared — the supremely comfortable plywood-base-and-leather-upholstery creation that will likely live in homes as long as there are people with good taste and sense.