I have to admit, I did not see this one coming. Herman Miller recently teamed up with Brooklyn-based art duo FAILE, and produced my current favourite thing: a project that includes a radical re-fresh of the Embody chair, some eye-watering posters, and 100 'joysticks' that resemble an LSD-drenched Terracotta Army (and have already sold out).
Herman Miller is the establishment when it comes to chairs. If you're a designer with even the slightest interest in industrial design, you'll be aware of their exquisitely designed office chairs. 'Exquisite' may sound strong, but it's true. The Embody chair is my top pick of the best ergonomic office chairs. The iconic Aeron warmed the butts of anyone in an office in the 1990s, and was the chair of choice for one former president. So where did this collab come from?
Well, it's worth saying that this collaboration is between FAILE and Herman Miller Gaming UK – a smaller section of the chair company, founded in 2020, that has taken the designs of three classic Herman Miller chairs – the Embody, Aeron and Sayl – added a new model, the Vantum, and gamified the look of them all.
Think bright and bold colour options, and key colour highlights that make the chairs pop. Honestly, I'm not a fan of taking an office chair (classic or otherwise) and simply adding a few colour option and selling it as a gaming chair. It just smacks of a marketing ploy rather than a thought-through product aimed, from start to finish, at a gaming audience. At least stylistically the Vantum seems to be the real deal, but still...
And yet all is forgiven, because without that arm of Herman Miller, I wouldn't be able to enjoy all these brilliant images. Now, where can I get one of those Embody chairs?!
[Update: "The chairs will not be available for purchase, and will be inducted into Herman Miller Gaming’s archives, serving as inspiration for future designers." Damn it!]
