Eames Lounge Chair - History

History

The Eames Lounge Chair first appeared on the Arlene Francis 'Home" show broadcast on the NBC television network in the USA in 1956. Immediately following the début Herman Miller launched an advertising campaign that highlighted the versatility of the chair. Print ads depicted the 670 in a Victorian parlor, occupied by a grandmother shelling peas on the front porch of an American Gothic style house, and in the middle of a sunny field of hay. One notable advertisement was produced by the Eameses for Herman Miller warning consumers against imitations and knockoffs. It has also featured frequently in Frasier as a piece of furniture in the title character's apartment about which in the final series Martin Crane remarks that he finds it comfortable and hints that he may not have needed his recliner after all.

Since its introduction, the chair has been in continuous production by Herman Miller in America. Later, Vitra (in cooperation with the German furniture company Fritz Becker KG) began producing the chair for the European market. Immediately following its release other furniture companies began to copy the chair's design. Some made direct copies, others were merely 'influenced' by the design. Most notably the former Plycraft Company issued dozens of chairs that were direct copies of or in-the-style-of the Eames 670. Later Chinese and European companies began making direct copies. However, Herman Miller and Vitra remain the only two companies to produce these chairs with the Eames name attached.

In 2006, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the chair, Herman Miller released models using a sustainable Palisander rosewood veneer.