The Sunday, September 29, 2002 edition of the Los Angeles Times spotlights the continued success of Herman Miller's Aeron chair, eight years after its introduction.
As part of its Fall Design-themed issue, L.A. Times writer Preston Lerner recounts how the Aeron's unique design blurred the lines between task seating and executive chairs to become an egalitarian symbol of success for a new generation of office workers.
"Eight years ago," Lerner writes, "the office chair hierarchy was stood on its head by the introduction of Herman Miller's seminal Aeron chair, which set new standards for ergonomic efficiency while emerging as an I'm-so-cool icon...by merging the utility of task seating with the status of a throne, it forever changed the landscape of the modern office."
The article summarizes the evolution of the workplace from the early 20th Century to the present--with nods to Herman Miller's Action Office system and Ergon chair--and offers capsule reviews of the succession of "Aeron knock-offs, Aeron wannabes and would-be Aeron-slayers" that have followed in the original chair's wake.
"Yet despite all the competition," Lerner concludes, "the Aeron is still first among equals...it was the first to articulate the conviction that comfort and cachet needn't be mutually exclusive."
The entire article may be viewed on the Los Angeles Times Web site, www.latimes.com. Direct access to the story is provided via a free online subscription sign-up.
|
