Charles & Ray Eames

Their chairs, armchairs and creations in moulded plywood, fibreglass and aluminium, produced notably by Herman Miller and later by Vitra, remain today among the most iconic references in the world of vintage furniture

Charles and Ray Eames are among the greatest figures of twentieth-century American design. Their work profoundly shaped the history of designer furniture through an approach that combined technical innovation, comfort and industrial production. Their chairs, armchairs and creations in moulded plywood, fibreglass and aluminium, produced notably by Herman Miller and later by Vitra, remain today among the most iconic references in the world of vintage furniture.

Their story began in the 1940s at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where Charles Eames collaborated with Eero Saarinen before meeting Ray Kaiser, who would become both his creative and life partner. After settling in California, they refined techniques for bending and moulding wood. Faced with the financial difficulties of their first company, they joined Evans Products, which incorporated them into its Molded Plywood Division. This proved to be a decisive step, leading to the creation of the future Eames Office and enabling the development of furniture designed for high-quality industrial production.

The “Evans Medal Strip” label beneath the seat of the LCW chair.

In 1946, the Museum of Modern Art in New York devoted the exhibition New Furniture Designed by Charles Eames to their work. The LCW, LCM, DCW and DCM models demonstrated the full potential of moulded plywood and revolutionised the concept of the designer chair. Two years later, at the International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design, the couple presented their first fibreglass seating designs. The Eameses also exhibited La Chaise, which would never be mass-produced during their lifetime. The RAR, DAR, DSR and DAW models illustrate their ambition to create a chair suited to every purpose through an ingenious system of interchangeable shells and bases.

Created in 1948 by Charles & Ray Eames, La Chaise translates the organic curves of Gaston Lachaise’s Floating Figure (1927) into an armchair that became an icon of twentieth-century design.

By the end of the 1940s, Evans Products’ industrial production capacity had become insufficient. Charles and Ray Eames then began working with George Nelson, Director of Design at Herman Miller. The company acquired the manufacturing rights to their furniture and played a major role in its international distribution. This collaboration proved instrumental to the success of the Eameses’ creations throughout the 1950s, when their designs became equally at home in modern residences and professional environments.

In 1956, the famous Lounge Chair & Ottoman was introduced, becoming one of the most iconic armchairs of the twentieth century. Combining moulded plywood, fine wood veneers and leather, it perfectly embodies the Eames philosophy: to create furniture that is elegant, durable and exceptionally comfortable. Its success firmly established Charles and Ray Eames among the leading figures in the history of designer furniture.

From the late 1950s throughout the 1960s, the Eames Office developed the Wire Chair, Aluminium Group and later the Soft Pad Group. These collections transformed office furniture through the innovative use of steel wire and aluminium. The Wire Chair also became the subject of a famous legal dispute between Herman Miller and Knoll, after Harry Bertoia, a former member of the Eames Office who later became a designer for Knoll, created a chair based on a similar structural principle. In 1957, Vitra obtained the licence to manufacture Eames designs for Europe and the Middle East, ensuring their distribution to an ever-growing audience.
Architects, designers, exhibition designers and filmmakers, Charles and Ray Eames profoundly influenced modern design far beyond the world of furniture. Continuously produced, collected and sought after since the 1970s, their vintage chairs, armchairs and moulded plywood creations remain among the most significant works in the history of twentieth-century furniture, embodying a remarkable balance between innovation, functionality and timeless elegance.