The “Aeron” chair became a symbol of the booming tech industry during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Startups and technology companies embraced it as part of the office culture, making it a status symbol representing innovation (and eventually excess) – and the mark of a modern, ergonomic, forward-thinking workplace.

Like many great innovations, the Aeron was a modification of a different product that never panned out. In the late 1980s, Herman Miller, which had long furnished offices with armchairs, desks and lamps, went after a new target: relatively immobile old people. They developed the “Sarah”, a functional chair that was a serious upgrade from the bulky vinyl “La-Z-Boy” recliners of old [Ed: Known to Australians as "Jason" rocker-recliners]. But no stores existed to sell furniture to older adults, so the new model languished until a few years later, when Herman Miller thought to ask the Sarah’s designers, Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick, to apply its underpinnings to an office chair.

The Herman Miller Aeron debuted in 1994 as a chair designed to actively contribute to the sitter’s health. Its raison d'être was to provide ergonomic comfort for as many different types of users, engaged in as many different types of desk-bound work, as possible.

The Aeron chair's most notable feature was its use of the “pellicle” mesh material rather than conventional foam and fabric. This innovation provided breathability, which helped to regulate body temperature, and it conformed to the body's shape, providing equal support and eliminating pressure points. The chair's design also featured adjustable armrests and tilt mechanisms, and a focus on natural spinal alignment – all aimed to support a wide range of body types and sizes.

It also had a striking, innovative look. WIRED magazine described the Aeron's appearance as “a chair that looked more engineered than designed”. Some Herman Miller executives were worried about the Aeron’s weird looks, but this turned out to be a cut-through feature. By 1996, the orders were already dwarfing expectations.

The design cognoscenti were also taking notice. The first acquisition made by curator Paola Antonelli for New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1994 was an Aeron. Writes Brian Kennedy in a 2006 issue of New York Magazine: “Aerons were hailed as triumphs of industrial design, and were a whole different beast from the overstuffed leather power chairs that dominated the Old Economy”.

Pop culture also contributed to the phenomenon. Will, on Will and Grace, spent an entire episode trying to procure an Aeron, and it even scored a visual cameo on The Simpsons when we learned in season 16, episode 19 that it was the ergonomic chair of choice for God to use in Heaven.

All in all, the Aeron was a throne perfectly tailored to Silicon Valley’s vanities, and there was a time when no self-respecting dot com start-up would be spending at least some of its venture funding on a set of iconic-but-rather-expensive Aerons (over US$1,000 a piece even back then). Similarly, when bubbles burst, it’s the Aeron chairs that tend to get the most attention as either a source of embarrassment or by way of sale to raise some quick cash.

The Aeron chair has seen several updates over the years to meet sustainability goals and incorporate new materials, e.g. “ocean-bound plastics”. Watch that video HERE.

In 2016, Herman Miller released a remastered version of the Aeron, which featured updated materials , improved ergonomic features, and a more sustainable design. As of 2023, the company had sold 8 million chairs, and more than a million chairs are produced every year.
___________________________

References

wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeron_chair
fastcompany.com/1671789/the-untold-history-of-how-the-aeron-chair-came-to-be
bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-03-06/best-office-chair-steelcase-takes-on-aeron-from-herman-miller
gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/herman-miller-aeron-review

Images

1. Aeron chair. Credit: hermanmiller.com
2. Aeron tilt sketch. Credit: hermanmiller.com
3. Designers Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick. Credit: hermanmiller.com
4. Aeron detail
5. Herman Miller logo
6. 2016 Aeron versions – chairs and stool
7. God sits in his ergonimic Aeron throne on The Simpsons: Season 16, Episode 19
8. Mona Lisa in Aeron. Illustration: Ricardo Rey for Bloomberg Businessweek