Object of the Week: The Eames Lounge Chair, A Favorite Co-Star Of The Design Savvy, From Hallyu To Hollywood

Often in Korean dramas a much loved and sought-after design object appears: the  Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman. Its stage presence is undeniable and difficult to ignore, a chair created for relaxation made of black leather, wood and metal. High-End Crush (2015-2016) is a South Korean-Chinese romantic drama with Jung II-woo (Choi Se-hoon) and Jin Se-yeon (Yoo Yi-ryung), the armchair is located in the office of the CEO Choi Se-hoon and he himself benefits by using it. The CEO's office is furnished with the latest design objects, but the chair matches the modern style well.

The Eames Lounge Chair is also featured in more recent dramas in It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) produced by Studio Dragon and broadcast by tvN with Seo Ye-ji (Ko Moon-young), Kim Soo-hyun (Moon Gang-tae) and Oh Jeong-se (Moon Sang-tae), is always in an office, that of the director Kim Chang-wan (Oh Jin-wang) of the OK’s hospital. In this case, the function of relaxation and rest is emphasized rather than its design since the office in which it is located has many particular and unusual objects.

To All The Guys Who Loved Me (2020), is a KBS romantic drama starring Hwang Jung-eum (Seo Hyun Joo), Yoon Hyun-Min (Hwang Ji Woo) and Seo Ji Hoon (Park Do Kyum). The chair is present in the studio of the webtoon designer Park Do Kyum inside the house of CEO Hwang Ji Woo. The Eames Lounge Chair in this case proves to be once again versatile and timeless. The CEO's house is a modern villa and the chair fits well into a study-bedroom context in which to carve out moments of relaxation.

It may have seen its latest share of the spotlight through these K-Dramas, but the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman have been a staple in Hollywood sets as an addition to protagonists' stylish homes.  Check out the gallery below for films that the Eames Lounge Chair has figured in as well as some of its celebrity co-stars:

An Object Lesson On The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman

The upholstered Lounge or Eames Lounge Chair (670) and Ottoman (671) were designed in 1956 by the spouses Charles Eames (1907-1978) and Ray Kaiser Eames (1912-1988),  famous American designers for their experiments on wood, plastic and metal.  The design was authored by the Eames couple, specifically to satisfy the client's request for rest and relaxation. Despite the fact that seventy years have passed, the chair remains an icon much loved and sought after for its style and design. The Eames Lounge Chair is produced and distributed by Herman Miller for America and Vitra for Europe.  It is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and other museums around the world.