Lounge Chair & Ottoman

Vitra Lounge Chair & Ottoman by Charles and Ray Eames

With their Lounge Chair Charles and Ray Eames' intention was to create a contemporary version of the classic club chair.

As with the club chair comfort was a top priority. Comfort combined with a hint of luxury. Launched in 1956 the Eames Lounge Chair achieves just this is an object that is lighter, more refined, more elegant than its ancestor. With its dulcet combination of moulded plywood and leather upholstery the Eames Lounge Chair is not only a delightful re-interpretation of a traditional furniture standard but an enchanting combination of materials and emotion. The Eames Lounge Chair is complemented by an equally refined Eames Ottoman. In addition to being included in the Permanent Collections of numerous museums, including the MoMA New York, V&A London or Grassi Museum Leipzig, the Eames Lounge Chair has received numerous prizes including the Triennale Milan Award.

Legend has it that the original inspiration for the Lounge Chair cam from a request from the American film director Billy Wilder. A long time friend of Charles and Ray Eames, Billy Wilder would often complain that he was unable to find an armchair which was both contemporary and comfortable. To meet his wishes the Lounge Chair was created. Allegedly. Wilder did however take a deep interest in the development of the project and received one of the earliest prototypes. And so it was only logical that for the Vitra's 1980s "Personalities" advertising campaign Billy Wilder was photographed in and Eames Lounge Chair.

The seat and backrest of the Eames Lounge Chair are formed from a combination of moulded plywood shell and leather upholstery. Each Lounge Chair comprises three such shells: one for the seat, one for the backrest and a third as head rest. The seat construction is completed by a pair of cushioned leather armrests. A swivel, aluminium base supports the seat construction. The complimenting Eames Ottoman is of an identical construction principle as the chair, just with a non-swivel base. Both Lounge chair and Ottoman are available in a range of wood types, leather colours and base finishes.
As with all Eames furniture designs the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman are exclusively produced for Europe and Asia by Vitra. And for almost 50 years that production process has involved the same 47 steps. What has changed over the decades is the size of the average human: in some regions we are now on average 10cms taller than in the 1950s. Reflecting this development Vitra now offer the Eames Lounge Chair in two sizes: The classic 84 cms high version and a new 89 cm version.

With the Lounge Chair Atelier on the Vitra Campus Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman manufacturer Vitra provides its customers with a unique insight into the making of this most classic of all furniture designs. Visitors are invited to observe and experience how the original Lounge Chair and Ottoman are carefully constructed an assembled.
The original Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman were produced from Brazilian Palisander: a wood that since 1968 has been protected by an export ban and since 1998 has been subject to very strict controls on its use. Consequently the modern Vitra Eames Lounge Chair is produced from Santos Palisander - an optically similar but environmentally more justifiable wood type. In addition Vitra offer the Eames Lounge Chair in a dark walnut and a white walnut version. All veneers for Vitra Eames Lounge Chair are sourced from sustainably maintained forests. In addition all Vitra Eames Lounge Chairs and Ottomans contain 24% recycled material and 29% of their components can be recycled. A largely theoretical 29% as Eames Lounge Chairs are generally recycled in that they are handed onto the next generation. And the next. And the next. And.....

Eames Lounge Chair with walnut shell and black leather

Then such a design classic tend to gain value over time. Not least on account of the individual, and comforting, patina that develops with time on the leather upholstery.

Released in 1956 as a modern interpretation of the classic club chair the Eames Lounge Chair beautifully personifies the the spirit of the 1950s Post World War II the global community was looking for a new orientation - one which provided the necessary distance to what had gone before. In Germany this search developed into the so-called Guten Form, in Scandinavia the organic modernism as characterised by designers such as Arne Jacobsen or Eero Saarinen. In addition the 1950s saw the beginnings of that which has developed into our contemporary consumer culture, a development that saw the home developed ever more to a sanctuary from the stress of the working day. An object such as Charles and Ray Eames Lounge Chair reflecting the spirit of these changes.

Closely linked with the name Eames is that of the Swiss designer furniture manufacturer Vitra; Vitra founder Willi Fehlbaum being, so to speak, the discoverer of the Eames furniture for Europe. During a taxi ride through New York Fehlbaum spotted an Eames Chair already being manufactured in the USA Herman Miller. Willi Fehlbaum and his wife Erika were so excited about the Eames designs that they promptly acquired the license for the production of the pieces in Europe. Since the 1950s, Vitra has been the only authorized dealer for Eames furniture, including the Lounge Chair & Ottoman, in Europe and Asia. Over the years a very very close relationship developed between the Fehlbaums and the Eames, so much so that following Ray Eames death in 1988 the estate of Charles and Ray Eames was entrusted to Vitra.

However not only their cooperation with the Eames' has been responsible for establishing Vitra's position and dominance. In addition to the Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman, Vitra produce design classics by greats such as Verner Panton, Alexander Girard and George Nelson as well as modern designs by. for example, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Jasper Morrison and Maarten van Severen. In addition, with the Vitra Campus and its architecturally significant buildings and the Vitra Design Museum with its design significant collection, Vitra make a notable contribution to the documentation of architecture, art and design history.