Grab a Seat: Herman Miller and Hay Just Dropped Their New Eames Collection
It’s not too much of a stretch to say that, when it comes to furniture designs, pieces by Charles and Ray Eames truly are the blueprint. “Everything starts with Ray and Charles,” Rolf Hay told AD in the October issue of the magazine. Legacies of the midcentury design revolution, so many furnishings that don our homes and offices are some iteration of an Eames design—whether an original, inspired by, a direct copy, or a copy of a copy. Naturally, when Rolf and his wife, Mette, started their eponymous design brand, Hay, in 2002, Charles and Ray were huge inspirations.
While the parallels between the Hays and the Eameses are easy to draw—married designers who fervently believe that good design is for everyone—their connection is about to get even stronger. The Danish design brand recently collaborated with Herman Miller to update eight iconic Eames pieces, which launch today on Herman Miller’s website. “Herman Miller is built on a legacy of risk-taking and creative collaboration,” Ben Watson, president of Herman Miller, says in a statement. “With this collection, Hay thoughtfully reimagines Eames classics in a forward-thinking, first-of-its-kind collaboration.”
With the partnership, Hay has revisited both the color and materiality of multiple Eames staples including plastic shell chairs (both with and without arms), the plywood chair, and the sofa compact. The classic pieces are available in a whole new line of colors including Powder Pink (a terra-cotta, salmon-esque hue), Toffee (a smooth, sweet brown), or Iron Red (an earthy, southwest shade). “Being very familiar with the existing color range, my intention was to focus on looking ahead, instead of looking too far back,” Mette Hay said of the new shades.
When working on the project, the designers leaned heavily on research found both in the Herman Miller archive and through one-off furniture prototypes from museum catalogs and on auction websites. The couple also spent time in the Maharam archive to better understand Alexander Girard, the founding director of textiles at Herman Miller who worked closely with the Eameses. “They had a fantastic sensibility, and working with Alexander Girard was inspiring for both of them, as working with his textiles has been for us,” Rolf said. Hay opted for Girard’s Jacob’s Coat when reimagining the Eames sofa compact.
The Danish brand squeezed other modern juices onto the tried-and-true styles, including updating the molded plastic shell chairs to include 100% post-industrial recycled plastic. Hay also experimented with glass, adding glass-cast spheres on the Eames Hang-It-All and glass-cast slabs on the top of Eames Wire Base Low Table and Eames Universal Base Round Table.
In recent years, the Danish firm has surprised and delighted through a series of collaborations, including this past June when the duo added new splashes to Bruno Rey’s line of curved chairs. In 2017, the studio worked with IKEA to make high-quality design even more accessible to the masses. With the new Herman Miller x Hay collection, all eight pieces are available across North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Prices range from $345 for the Eames Hang-It-All to $6,500 for the Eames Compact Sofa.
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