Seat Dreams

Fantasizing About Furniture with Rick Owens, Errolson Hugh, Simone Rocha and More

Over the course of a year, we’ve all become acutely more aware of our bodies—everything from where and how to position them in order to keep them safe and healthy, to just exactly how it feels to sit down for an entire day, alternating only between couch, chair, and bed. We’ve also become expert dreamers—fantasizing about the places we will go when “these times” pass, and turning over our hopes for the future, or just for our next online purchase. If this is the year of sitting and of dreaming, why not ask 10 acclaimed fashion designers—the ultimate arbiters of fantasy—to turn their attention to a new form: chairs. Rick Owens, Simone Rocha, Kyle Ng, Priya Ahluwalia, Martine Ali, Idris Balogun, Errolson Hugh, Bianca Saunders, Laura and Deanna Fanning, and the Commission team share their notes for chairs in the sky, brought to life with the help of illustrator Tracy Ma. Come sit.

I’m tête-à-tête, two parts of a whole; some would call me a love chair, but I would never say that’s me. I’m yin and yang with a predilection toward complementary colors in a powdery finish. I’m sunken, not shrunken, and bold, but not too big.

I WANT A TRANSPARENT MELTING CRYSTAL FLAMING LOUNGE CHAIR FLOATING IN A POOL OF SOFT MAUVE FOG LIT FROM BELOW BY A SOLID TANGERINE RAINBOW THAT'S PLAYING SLOW-MOTION DEATH DISCO.

My dream chair would be a beautifully shaped window that looks out onto a tropical scene. It would be a very cushioned, comfy type of hammock with some of the intricate details of a wicker chair around the edge. The chair would be burnt orange. The perfect place to read a book!

During these times, I have been sitting in my house thinking of how to improve it. The chair is probably the most important part of my work experience. It's very hard to find a chair that can inspire you to be in work mode, yet comfortable to relax in when you need it. I want a chair that is aesthetically pleasing. I grew up in a house that was filled with modern and postmodern 80s furniture. That is usually my reference point for aesthetics. I love hard material that is molded and contoured for your booty. My favorite designer is Gaetano Pesce. His resin chairs inspire me because they have such an organic sculptural quality to them. I love the idea of a chair that feels human, not cold.

Feminine, practical, tactile, grounding.

A combination of comfort, softness, and elasticity that appears curved, resembling an armchair. The idea moving towards the shape of a cushion, enlarged into the form of a chair balanced on a wire frame. The material of the chair will be thick white lamb’s leather, with heavy visible stitching.

We call it the FFF chair. It is a foldable concept chair with faux leather cushions and upcycled wooden panels. It is meant to embody the luxury and convenience that is representative of apartments in New York, where we must make the most of our spaces.

My ideal dream chair would be inspired by those mod, circular, or almost mid-century bowl-looking chairs. Like a cozy cloud-bowl for a human. It would be made of soft, pillowy, worn white leather. The base would be lucite so it looks like it's floating, and any joining of materials would be made possible by shiny, silver, hinge-looking hardware. The chair would also have a fold out leg rest similar to a La-Z-Boy, and Bluetooth technology that enables internal massagers!

It’s inspired by the Lounge Chair or Arm Chair 004, designed by Finnish-born designer, Antti Nurmesniemi in collaboration with his wife, also a Finnish textile designer Vuokko Nurmesniemi, circa 1966–1970. Our version would be covered fully in white lace.

My dream chair would be a fully articulated cross between a high-end competition bicycle, a fully adjustable hospital bed, and an exoskeleton. With some Soriano sofa (by Afra & Tobia Scarpa) thrown in for good measure. I could sit in it, sleep in it, stand in it, and, you know, pedal it around the studio.A couple of Decembers ago, some of my family and I were visiting my grandmother in the hospital, and we ended up staying overnight, for a few nights. At some point the nurses gave us this rather elaborate wheelchair to sit and sleep in. It was the most adjustable and most comfortable piece of furniture I have ever seen. You could wheel it around yourself while sitting in it, but you could also park it and put it in recline mode (via these bicycle-like control levers and hydraulics) and it effectively became a bed. So it could assume any position from sitting straight upright, to laying almost totally flat. Probably one of the best chairs I've ever seen, even though it felt like it was probably over 30 years old.The other chair that has always fascinated me is (Segway inventor) Dean Kamen's iBOT wheelchair. The unique design and systems allow it to “stand up” and climb stairs (!). That one's motorized, but I'd want my chair to be human-powered, like a recumbent bike, for zero emissions.