Eames Chairs - Real or Repro?

‘Authentic’ modernist furniture designs often come with an exclusive price tag that completely undermines the designers’ original intention of making good quality designs available to all. It is possible to get around this problem by investing in reproduction products that will get you the same quality at a quarter of the price demanded by the firms that hold the official licence. Furniture designs themselves are not subject to copyright. Only the names are. 

 “The best for the most for the least” said Charles Eames. Most of these designs were never meant for the elite but at the prices licensed products are sold for, who else could afford them now? Thirty years ago, a school cafeteria could be full of Eames chairs; that was the point, they were utilitarian. Now a set of four dining chairs might cost £1200. Who can afford that? Do you think that’s a reasonable amount to pay for plastic chairs? The online price for licensed Eames chairs is £300 and upwards. Eames style ‘knock-offs’ go for about £70-£90. 

If the chairs themselves are no different, you are being asked to pay £200 for a badge. Are you that shallow? Didn’t you grow out of that when you left school and stopped needing the ‘right trainers’? Are you, in fact, a bit of a poseur? 

Is there not something a bit repugnant about a company making obscene profits with a design they purchased the rights to? They are not the designers. They are merely the manufacturers. High quality manufactures, perhaps. But with mass produced items high quality should not be as expensive as hand-made artisan creations. That is a rip-off. 

When you’re after traditional furniture, do you seek out the descendant companies of the original 17th, 18th, or 19th century cabinetmakers? Good luck finding Chippendale and Gillows’ (Actually Gillows’ was swallowed by Allied carpets, why not try one of their lively patterned products?). Do you try and buy the original products themselves? The auction houses of Sotheby’s and Christie's tend to be a little steep for most people and there is definitely a limit in terms of availability, so what do you do? You buy repro. 

As noted earlier, furniture design and manufacture is not copyright, and for good reason. For centuries, cabinetmakers, and furniture fabricators have copied each other's designs, incrementally and sometimes radically changing them for better or for worse. They have Developed and refined techniques until today we have a massive market offering a variety of furniture styles and quality range. Tenaciously clinging to the corporate licensing mantra or allowing oneself to be browbeaten into paying unreasonable amounts of money for a small badge, only serves to wildly enrich the manufacturer and stymie the innovation that might result in a cheaper, better, and longer lasting products. 

So, if you had any qualms about putting any more money China’s way for reproduction eames chairs then hopefully this will have put your mind at ease. Ask yourself “Am I a tragic brand wally, or would I just like an attractive chair or two?”