La Chaise

The fiberglass shell technology and manufacturing precision required to realize the Eames' original vision were not commercially viable until decades later. Vitra finally produced the chair in 1990 using advances in molded fiberglass fabrication that could faithfully replicate the prototype's continuous, compound-curved form.

Gaston Lachaise was a French-American sculptor known for monumental bronze figures with sweeping, voluptuous forms. Charles and Ray Eames named the chair in his honor because its organic, flowing shell shares the same sculptural sensibility found in his work.

The La Chaise is designed for reclined lounging rather than upright task seating. Its wide, enveloping shell accommodates a range of positions and body types, making it a genuinely functional lounge chair, though its presence in a room is as much visual as it is physical.

The seat consists of two thin fiberglass shells that are molded separately and then bonded together into one unified form. The base is constructed from chrome-finished steel rods that terminate in natural oak feet, providing both visual lightness and structural stability.

Unlike the Eames Lounge Chair, which uses bent plywood and leather upholstery, the La Chaise is an entirely unupholstered sculptural shell. It prioritizes form and organic geometry over padded comfort, reflecting the more experimental, competition-driven context in which it was conceived.