Designed by Charles and Ray Eames

Eames Molded Plastic Chair

Two Eames Molded Plastic Armchairs, one with a low wire base and one with a dowel base.
  • White Eames Molded Plastic armchair with dowel legs, viewed from the front.
  • Three-quarter rear view of a black Eames Molded Plastic side chair with dowel legs.
  • White Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a blue upholstered seat pad and dowel legs, viewed from a 45-degree angle.
  • Light blue Eames Molded Plastic armchair with dowel legs, viewed from the front.
  • Red upholstered Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from a 45-degree angle.
  • Gray upholstered Eames Molded Plastic armchair with a wire base, viewed from the front.
  • Light tan Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from the side.
  • Pink Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from the front.
  • Dark gray Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from the front.
  • Dark blue Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from the front.
  • Yellow Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from the side.
  • White Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a light blue upholstered seat pad and dowel legs, viewed from the front.
  • Four-leg version of a black Eames Molded Plastic side chair, viewed from a 45-degree angle.
  • Eames Molded Plastic Black Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from the front.
  • Red upholstered Eames Molded Plastic armchair with dowel legs, viewed from the front.
  • Red upholstered Eames Molded Plastic armchair with dowel legs, viewed from a 45-degree angle.
  • Purple upholstered Eames Molded Plastic rocking chair, viewed from a 45-degree angle.
  • White Eames Molded Plastic rocking chair, viewed from the side.
  • Brown Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from a 45-degree angle.
  • Gray upholstered Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from a 45-degree angle.
  • Black upholstered Eames Molded Plastic side chair with a wire base, viewed from a 45-degree angle.

A simple, gracious form that fits any body and every place

Five Eames Molded Plastic side and armchairs in white, brown, blue, red, and black, showing the various base options.

Eames Molded Plastic Chair

Charles and Ray Eames spent their entire careers exploring the chair as a single-shell form, yielding numerous expressions—beginning in 1950 with the Molded Fiberglass Chair. Most recently, the Molded Plastic Chair evolved to include 100 percent recycled plastic. Atop a 4-leg bar or counter-height base, the durable shell chairs make spaces more inviting and stylish. Beyond the growing selection of plastic shell colors, Eames Molded Plastic Stools are also available fully upholstered or with a seat pad for enhanced comfort.

“The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests,” Charles Eames said. With the molded plastic, fiberglass, and wood shell chairs—as well as the wire chair—the Eameses have created a universal response to what everyone wants from a chair: a simple, gracious form that fits any body and every place.

The endless possibilities of a simple, gracious form

Discover all the ways Eames Shell Chairs can work for you.

Meet the family

A casual arrangement of Eames shell chairs and stools in fiberglass, wire, wood, and plastic.

For every need

Charles Eames famously said, “The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests.” With the molded plastic, fiberglass, and wood shell chairs—as well as the wire chair—the Eameses have created a universal response to what everyone wants from a chair: a simple, gracious form that fits any body and every place.

A poster showing photos of various mid-century modern furniture pieces.
Ray and Charles Eames, designers of the Eames Molded Wood Stool.

In every way

Borne out of Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen’s early investigations molding plywood at Cranbrook Academy in 1939, and continued with Ray at the Eames studio in Venice, California, the molded chair is exemplary of the Eameses’ iterative process and their desire to make “the best for the most for the least.” With each new form, finish, and configuration, the Eameses continued to push the boundaries of what the shell chair could be. After experimenting with single-form plywood and stamped metal, they turned to fiberglass and experimented with bent wire. When fiberglass production proved unhealthy for the environment, the decision was made to switch production to a safer plastic. Now, with advancements in safe fiberglass composition, dynamic veneer technologies, and sustainable materials, the evolution continues with the Molded Fiberglass, Molded Wood, and Molded Plastic Chairs.

For everyone

The Eames Shell Chair was designed on the principle of adaptability, offering innumerable configurations to serve a wide variety of applications and environments. It’s what makes the chair a classic worthy of museum collections—and living rooms, laundromats, lobbies, and cafés. It’s what makes it a great first piece of furniture to buy in your twenties, that’s still worthy and relevant enough to hand down to your children 20 years later. A diverse selection of shell, base, color, and finish options enable you to create your perfect chair. Just like every person, every chair has a story.

Historical images of eight chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames.

Herman Miller x HAY

Classic Eames designs thoughtfully reimagined by Danish design house HAY.

View the Collection

Eames Molded Plastic Chair group shot on sage background.

“The details are not the details, they make the product.”

More about Charles & Ray Eames

Product Designers Ray and Charles Eames

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