Throughout their lives Charles and Ray Eames dedicated themselves to furniture design and architecture. The earliest examples of furniture design from Eames began in around 1935 with the production of a Chandelier for the St. Louis church. Over the following 36 years Charles and Ray Eames worked together to produce a wide range of iconic furniture items which include office and home furniture.
The classic Eames lounge chair is made from three simple wood panels which hold the leather seating sections. The lounge chairs design is a clear homage to gentlemen’s clubs of the past and still has resonance with high powered jobs and success in life.
The influence of Charles and Ray Eames design products has filtered through the ages and their simplistic yet functional furniture, like the signature Eames chair is still yearned after years after its original conception.
The Eames design dynasty is not only restricted just to furniture design but has had a large influence across films, TV and Hollywood. The Eames lounge chair alone has featured in a wide selection of films and TV series which include the following:
Eames TV Appearances
- The Eames lounge chair is visible in all but one episode of the hit TV series Frasier
- The chair is frequently featured in the 1960s based TV series Mad Men
- The Eames chair is featured in the first series of Friends and can be seen in Chandler and Joey’s apartment
- An Eames lounge chair is shown within Dr. Cox’s apartment in Scrubs
- The chair appears in the office of Dr. Gregory House in the television series House
A Popular Choice for Film
- The Eames lounge chair features in the movie Iron Man and is seen in Tony Stark’s apartment and workshop.
- Disney”s Tron reboot Tron:Legacy features an all white lounge chair
- The film Gattaca is strewn full of Eames furniture including an Eames Soft Pad Group chair
- Eames chairs are also featured in the film The Big Lebowski
- During Moonraker, the popular James Bond film starring Roger Moore, there are a number of white high-back Eames lounge chairs featured throughout.
It seems that there is a clear pattern of a number of authority figures resting their laurels on Eames furniture which includes Doctors, Radio psychiatrists, international super spies and hot shot ad executives.
Eames furniture is still as popular as ever and signifies a level of success that is aspirational amongst creative types due to Charles roots in architecture and design. The iconic design of Eames furniture also signifies a clear level of discerning taste amongst owners which is probably why their products have been featured so frequently in the media.
Jonathan is a freelance writer who enjoys writing about iconic furniture design.
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