'Why don't we make an updated version of the old English club chair? The chair should resemble a soft, well-used baseball glove, inviting the user to sink back into it'.
With this comment, Charles Eames initiated the development of the Lounge Chair, a process that took several years. The aim was to satisfy the desire for an amply proportioned chair that combined ultimate comfort with the highest quality materials and craftsmanship.
With the design of this armchair in 1956, Charles and Ray Eames set new standards: it is not only lighter, more elegant and more modern than the conventionally ponderous club chair – it is also more comfortable. With these qualities, the Lounge Chair became one of the most famous designs of Charles and Ray Eames and has attained the status of a classic in the history of modern furniture.
The Eames Lounge Chair is now available from Vitra in two dimensions: the classical and historical size and a new larger size.
Classical dimensions L84 x P91 x H84 cm, seat height 38 cm (cf size drawing below)
New dimensions L84 x P92 x H89 cm, seat height 38 cm (cf size drawing below)
Wood moulded plywood, different face veneers: Santos palisander (Brazil), American cherry (USA), black pigmented walnut (USA), white pigmented walnut (USA), black ash (Germany)
Base swivel – die-cast aluminium, finish: polished (sateen) or polished with black sides
Upholstery removable – leather
white pigmented walnut
Santos palisander
American cherry
Free samples (against deposit)
Santos palisander
Premium leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm
nero 66
chocolate 68
snow 72
brown 77
plum 87
brandy 93
Premium F leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm, olive leaf tanned
Natural leather
aniline cowhide leather, nappa, natural grain, porous and breathable, thickness 1,3 à 1,5 mm
nero 66
chocolat 68
neige 72
caramel 01
nero 66
chocolate 68
dark sand 78
American cherry
Premium leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm
kaki 58
umbra grey 61
Premium F leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm, olive leaf tanned
nero 66
chocolate 68
sand 71
snow 72
brown 77
Natural leather
aniline cowhide leather, nappa, natural grain, porous and breathable, thickness 1,3 à 1,5 mm
nero 66
chocolat 68
neige 72
caramel 01
nero 66
chocolate 68
dark sand 78
black pigmented walnut
Premium leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm
umbra grey 61
nero 66
Premium F leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm, olive leaf tanned
chocolate 68
chesnut 69
snow 72
brown 77
Natural leather
aniline cowhide leather, nappa, natural grain, porous and breathable, thickness 1,3 à 1,5 mm
nero 66
chocolat 68
neige 72
caramel 01
nero 66
chocolate 68
dark sand 78
white pigmented walnut
Premium leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm
Premium F leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm, olive leaf tanned
snow 72
clay 73
olive 74
Natural leather
aniline cowhide leather, nappa, natural grain, porous and breathable, thickness 1,3 à 1,5 mm
neige 72
dark sand 78
black ash
Premium leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm
nero 66
asphalte 67
chocolate 68
Natural leather
aniline cowhide leather, nappa, natural grain, porous and breathable, thickness 1,3 à 1,5 mm
Premium F leather
semi-aniline cowhide leather, nappa, thickness 1,1 à 1,3 mm, olive leaf tanned
nero 66
chocolat 68
nero 66
chocolate 68
classical dimensions
new dimensions
Charles & Ray Eames
Charles Eames, born 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri, studied architecture at Washington University in St. Louis and opened his own office together with Charles M. Gray in 1930. In 1935 he founded another architectural firm with Robert T. Walsh. After receiving a fellowship in 1938 from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, he moved to Michigan and assumed a teaching position in the design department the following year. In 1940, he and Eero Saarinen won first prize for their joint entry in the competition "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" organized by the New York Museum of Modern Art. During the same year, Eames became head of the department of industrial design at Cranbrook.
Ray Eames, born Bernice Alexandra Kaiser, was born in Sacramento, California in 1912. She attended the May Friend Bennet School in Millbrook, New York, and continued her studies in painting under Hans Hofmann through 1937. During this year she exhibited her work in the first exhibition of the American Abstract Artists group at the Riverside Museum in New York. She matriculated at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1940.
Charles and Ray Eames married in 1941 and moved to Los Angeles, where together they began experimenting with techniques for the three-dimensional moulding of plywood. The aim was to create comfortable chairs that were affordable. However, the war interrupted their work, and Charles and Ray turned instead to the design and development of leg splints made of plywood, which were manufactured in large quantities for the US Navy. In 1946, they exhibited their experimental furniture designs at MoMA. The Herman Miller Company in Zeeland, Michigan, subsequently began to produce Eames furniture. Charles and Ray participated in the 1948 'Low-Cost Furniture' competition at MoMA, and they built the Eames House in 1949 as their own private residence. In addition to their work in furniture design and architecture, they also regularly turned their hand to graphic design, photography, film and exhibition design.
In 1957 Vitra signed a licence agreement with Herman Miller and began producing the Eameses' designs for Europe and the Middle East. Charles and Ray Eames have had a profound and lasting influence on Vitra. It was the encounter with their work that spurred the company's beginnings as a furniture manufacturer. Yet it is not just the products of Charles and Ray Eames that have left a mark on Vitra. Even today, their design philosophy continues to significantly shape the company's values, orientation and goals.
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