With the Eames Special Collection 2023, Vitra – in close collaboration with the Eames Office – is now producing new versions of selected iconic pieces by Charles and Ray Eames. La Chaise, the Eames Elephant, Eames Wool Blanket, Plywood Mobiles and the Eames House Bird, as well as the Organic Conference chair, which Charles Eames developed with Eero Saarinen, are now being launched in a carefully chosen assortment of novel finishes, fabrics and colours.

In the world of Charles and Ray Eames, both the heart and mind were fully engaged. Iteration was key. Transforming industrial materials into beauty and function, they designed high-quality products for many audiences and markets. Every object had what Charles called a ‘way-it-should-be-ness’. They shared an impeccable intuition and understanding of what was needed in terms of form, colour and finishings.

Charles and Ray Eames saw their work with colour as not just having an aesthetic purpose but also as serving as a form of expression, a way of conveying information about objects, spaces and volumes – and thus a tool for communicating the right messages and captivating the eye and mind of the viewer. Having trained as an artist with an impeccable eye for colour, Ray once declared, ‘I never gave up painting, I just changed my palette’.

_{Historical images: © Eames Office, LLC
Images staged at the Eames House: © Vitra / Photo: Florian Böhm (Studio AKFB) / Eames House © Eames Foundation, 2023}

This Vitra Session tells the shared story of the designer couple Charles and Ray Eames and the furniture manufacturer Vitra, founded by the Fehlbaum family in 1950, and focuses on this special relationship that spans three generations.