The Slow Chair, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's latest design for the Vitra Home Collection, is a successful new interpretation of the classic armchair utilising the most current technology. This inviting lounge piece, which counts Eero Saarinen's famous Womb Chair as well as Hans J. Wegner's Flag Halyard Lounge Chair among its typological and aesthetic "ancestors", uses an extremely strong, precisely shaped knit which is stretched over the frame of the chair like a fitted stocking. The frame is merely comprised of tubular steel ring for the seat, a screwed-on bow-shaped extension that forms the contour of the arms, backrest and four cast aluminium legs. On the periphery of the fabric, where the textile membrane is connected to the frame, the densely knit edge casings completely conceal the enclosed steel tubing.
The knitted sling cover gives the armchair its essential comfort. A light inlayed seat cushion and two small backrest cushions increase the softness and augment the excellent ergonomic qualities of the chair. Thanks to the thin translucence of the fabric sling, this generously proportioned piece of furniture is amazingly lightweight - both visually and physically. Consequently, it is easy to move the Slow Chair from one place to another, and it is also suited for temporary outdoor use.
The subtly concave surface of the Slow Chair Ottoman is just slightly lower than the seat of the companion armchair. Its symmetrical tubular steel frame can be described as a rectangle with rounded corners and gently bowed sides. The short sides of the frame are mounted on two pairs of cast-aluminium legs. Like the Slow Chair, the Ottoman is also covered with a fitted knit sling, and a flat cushion provides added comfort.
On all versions of the Slow Chair and Ottoman, the frame has a powder-coated finish in the colour of aubergine. The sling upholstery comes in three different colour combinations: aubergine, brown/cream and red/cream.
