A (Personal) History of Hot Chairs

Why a good Statement Chair is a style oracle unto itself. Plus, the 6 legendary designs I'm (ALWAYS) saving up for.

About 15 years ago, my sister Corey called me from an estate sale on Long Island near where we grew up. It was the evening, and she was suspiciously whispering, almost so I couldn’t hear her.

“I’m at an estate sale,” she muffled into the phone. “I think I found something…two chairs I think you’d like.”

My sister is no design nerd, but she has an impeccable eagle eye for REALLY good things. Not just good-looking things, but GOOD valuable things. And, as with everything else, I trust her. Because this was 15 years ago, I had to wait a beat for the photos to come through on my Blackberry…but when they did, my heart began to pound. I immediately told her to take them home in her truck. After which the REALLY good part of the story unfolds: That is, when she asked the person running the estate sale what the price was, the woman shrugged and said, “Oh, they’re so ugly, and NO ONE wants them. Please…just take them.”

And…SCENE 🎬.

My sister did take them. And the chairs, which were upholstered in this minty celadon-colored silk damask (which for the record, I did not hate), turned out to be a pair of Milo Baughman or Milo Baughman-style Cy Mann chrome lounge chairs. It’s hard to say whether they are Baughman or Mann, but honestly, who really cares…I love the story about them almost more than the chairs themselves.

Me being me (😇) these were not the first vintage Statement Chairs to show up in my life. Back in my 20s, I found a pair of barely used Hans Wegner Round chairs (aka: the Kennedy/Nixon debate chairs) at the Salvation Army in Patchogue, NY. I was too young to even know who/what Wegner chairs were, but I liked them and they were $40 for the pair. These Baughman chairs my sister found, though, were definitely the fanciest pieces of furniture I’d ever encountered. And probably the most contemporary, meaning they didn’t look “vintage.” They just looked—and will always look—iconic.

My pair of Milo Baughman/Cy Mann chairs that (allegedly) no one wanted, a few weeks after we moved into ATA HQ/our place in the Heights. And, below, post-Knoll ultra-suede rehab. I am not 100% sure, but I believe Nicole Franzen took this photo from 2016.

To me, that’s the epitome of a Statement Chair. The first thing you see in a room. Or a foyer. Or by a window where there really isn’t a room, but this gorgeous charismatic Statement Chair makes it feel like the most important spot in your whole home. In some unexpected way, the Statement Chairs in our lives become these thumb prints…a reflection of who we are, what we love, and how we want to live. And yet with all that built-in engineering + design, a chair that also manages to be trend-less. High-Functioning. And, with not just a notable look but a complete Visual Identity that’s studied and borrowed from for decades…and decades more. A chair that becomes perhaps more famous than its maker.

While I loved that original minty celadon brocade, I eventually recovered the Baughman chairs in a Knoll ultra-suede deep fuchsia shade Wine + Roses. One of them became Phoebe’s favorite place to snooze, and every time someone would come over to our tiny apartment in Brooklyn Heights—and see those chairs—I felt so proud…like I actually knew what I was doing in the world.

Years later, when Raffi came into the picture, we put the chairs and their hard steel corners into storage (I don’t think I would ever sell them). In their place, I found another Statement Chair back when The RealReal used to sell furniture. It was a bright red wool covered Alky chair designed by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli in the 1970s. I loved its soft corners and smaller proportions, which were essential for both our baby and our 10x12 space.

My very own Alky chair, found on The RealReal for $346.50 with no designer attribution at all. I later recovered it in a burnt-golden velvet. Cats are supposed to not like velvet, but so far I have found this not to be true.

I started thinking about the singular role iconic chairs play in our lives back when I was pondering recovering the Alky chair…again. For a fleeting moment, I considered upgrading to another style altogether—but I realized the Alky is already The Perfect Chair…which is also what anoints a chair to Statement status. It doesn’t have to be glamorous or exorbitantly pricey or particularly luxe. It does, however, require an enigmatic spirit and attitude all its own…that inevitably endures.