4/5

posted Aug-04-2012

I bought the replica Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman from Manhattan Home Design about two weeks ago, after a lot of research. I went to their showroom and tested it out (I live in Brooklyn, NY) and got a piece of the leather form them to check out and was pretty impressed. I asked them loads of questions about it in person and by email and they were pretty helpful. Eventually I went for it and it arrived the next day (!), all in one box. Everything was really well packaged and I put it together pretty easily, so no problems there.

A couple of notes on the chair itself: I regularly sit on a Herman Miller Eames lounge chair (at work; I can't afford one for my apartment) so I know what it's like - the MHD version is aesthetically very close. The cushions are firmer than the Herman Miller one (although I guess they'll break in a bit over time) and the back of the chair has less flex than the Herman Miller one, so when you sit in it, it doesn't absorb you quite like the Herman Miller. The swivel is pretty good, it stays where you leave it, as it should, although there is a bit a of give in the mechanism that isn't there on the Herman Miller (if you move you weight side to side when you're sitting in it, the chair moves side to side a bit whereas the Herman Miller one is rock solid). The brackets holding the two sections of the chair's back together are made of metal (not plastic) and the plastic so-called 'shock mounts' seem to resemble the ones on the curent production Herman Miller pretty closely, as long as they hold up over time. The feet on the ottoman and the chair are Vitra-style, not Herman Miller, which personally I think look better. The leather is nice, it's real leather and smells like it which is great. The cushions fit moulded plywood pretty well - not totally flawlessly like the Herman Miller, but it's pretty damn good.

I've taken a star off the overall experience because as much as I was verbally assured that MHD operate a 'satisfaction guarantee' policy, there was a small defect in the chair's seat cushion - a small amount of stuffing is coming out from under one of the buttons. It's by no means a big deal, but I contacted them about it and they said I could ship that cushion to the manufacturer and ask for a replacement. Clearly, they weren't going be involved any further whereas I was under the impression that that guarantee was to cover things like this. I won't be shipping the cushion anywhere because it's relatively minor flaw and I dont want to have the chair unusable for a few weeks while I deal with it.

I left this slightly overly-detailed review because it was hard to find good, honest ones when I was looking! Hope this helps. Overall, it's a pretty nice chair (so far, it's been two weeks...) and it blows the old Plycraft repros and others like them out of the water, if you ask me.

This review was modified by Boje042 on August 04 2012 06:47:42 PM

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