Cassina Auckland
Early 2000s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s Italian Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Italian Armchairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
2010s Dutch Lounge Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Metal
Late 20th Century American Space Age Lounge Chairs
Chrome
2010s Italian Lounge Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Brass
Vintage 1970s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1960s German Space Age Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
1970s American Modern Nude Photography
Silver Gelatin
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Walnut
Vintage 1970s French Space Age Lounge Chairs
Metal
Antique Late 19th Century Late Victorian Rocking Chairs
Oak
Late 20th Century Macedonian Bauhaus Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Beech, Bentwood
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Fiberglass, Upholstery
Recent Sales
Early 2000s Italian Space Age Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Lounge Chairs
Leather, Fiberglass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
Materials: Plastic Furniture
Arguably the world’s most ubiquitous man-made material, plastic has impacted nearly every industry. In contemporary spaces, new and vintage plastic furniture is quite popular and its use pairs well with a range of design styles.
From the Italian lighting artisans at Fontana Arte to venturesome Scandinavian modernists such as Verner Panton, who created groundbreaking interiors as much as he did seating — see his revolutionary Panton chair — to contemporary multidisciplinary artists like Faye Toogood, furniture designers have been pushing the boundaries of plastic forever.
When The Graduate's Mr. McGuire proclaimed, “There’s a great future in plastics,” it was more than a laugh line. The iconic quote is an allusion both to society’s reliance on and its love affair with plastic. Before the material became an integral part of our lives — used in everything from clothing to storage to beauty and beyond — people relied on earthly elements for manufacturing, a process as time-consuming as it was costly.
Soon after American inventor John Wesley Hyatt created celluloid, which could mimic luxury products like tortoiseshell and ivory, production hit fever pitch, and the floodgates opened for others to explore plastic’s full potential. The material altered the history of design — mid-century modern legends Charles and Ray Eames, Joe Colombo and Eero Saarinen regularly experimented with plastics in the development of tables and chairs, and today plastic furnishings and decorative objects are seen as often indoors as they are outside.
Find vintage plastic lounge chairs, outdoor furniture, lighting and more on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right lounge-chairs for You
While this specific seating is known to all for its comfort and familiar form, the history of how your favorite antique or vintage lounge chair came to be is slightly more ambiguous.
Although there are rare armchairs dating back as far as the 17th century, some believe that the origins of the first official “lounge chair” are tied to Hungarian modernist designer-architect Marcel Breuer. Sure, Breuer wasn’t exactly reinventing the wheel when he introduced the Wassily lounge chair in 1925, but his seat was indeed revolutionary for its integration of bent tubular steel.
Officially, a lounge chair is simply defined as a “comfortable armchair,” which allows for the shape and material of the furnishings to be extremely diverse. Whether or not chaise longues make the cut for this category is a matter of frequent debate.
The Eames lounge chair, on the other hand, has come to define somewhat of a universal perception of what a lounge chair can be. Introduced in 1956, the Eames lounger (and its partner in cozy, the ottoman) quickly became staples in television shows, prestigious office buildings and sumptuous living rooms. Venerable American mid-century modern designers Charles and Ray Eames intended for it to be the peak of luxury, which they knew meant taking furniture to the next level of style and comfort. Their chair inspired many modern interpretations of the lounge — as well as numerous copies.
On 1stDibs, find a broad range of unique lounge chairs that includes everything from antique Victorian-era seating to vintage mid-century modern lounge chairs by craftspersons such as Hans Wegner to contemporary choices from today’s innovative designers.