Aereon Chairs | Aeron | Herman Miller Chair

The Chair That Almost Did Not Make It To Market

Is it more of a chair or more of a museum piece? It was almost neither and today is both. The story of how the famed aereon chairs almost never saw the light of day is a part of marketing lore. But today, aereon chairs are loved both as office furniture and as pieces of art. In fact, there is one on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

First designed by 1994 by the Herman Miller company, the chair was originally thought to be a dog, with absolutely no hope for market appeal. But the chair is now a classic piece of office furniture and has spawned countless imitators, some of which have come close to replicating the special attributes of the chair but many of which have fallen short.

And it stands to reason: the chair is not just interesting and appealing to look at, it is highly functional and is achievement of design. Not long after the chair was introduced to the market it began winning design awards, including Business Week’s “Designs of the Decade” award. It has also been seen in many television shows and in movies.

A Dot.com Boost

Prior to 1994, office chair design had not made many strides, dating back a century or more. There was little new on the scene in terms of office chairs. But after this chair caught on and became the de rigueur office chair of the well-appointed dot.com office space, many have signed on for its unique features.

In the early days, it was a chair used primarily by executives, in part because of its high price tag. But prices of the chair have come down to within reach of more modest budgets, and its popularity has grown from there. Today, some 15 years later, aeron chairs continued to be found in offices everywhere.

The chair gained popularity in part for its comfort. Made of a flexible mesh material, called pellicle, the chair is designed to stretch and mold to the person sitting in it. Unlike predecessor chairs, which were largely made of some kind of upholstery covering a cushion, this chair is designed to conform to the body that sits in it. It also offers many different types of adjustments, which allow users to customize the chair to how they like to sit.

The chairs come with both high and wide back designs, and various ways to adjust the lumbar support on the chair back as well.

Attractive and Good for You

Another reason the chair gained popularity is because it came on the scene about the same time that companies began to pay attention to ergonomics and the high cost of bad posture encouraged by other types of chair designs. While the original cost of the chair might have been higher than its competitors, many companies found that the chair’s ergonomic advantages more than justified the increased cost.