Office Chairs Designed For Women
Guest post by Allison Arieff of Growers and Nomad .com
Generally, I’m not a big fan of a lot of the things geared specifically toward women, i.e., Lifetime’s Television for Women or “chick lit” but a recent discovery of a chair custom-designed by Monica Förster for the unique sitting habits of women is another story.
A man and a woman might have the same job but how they sit while doing it is really quite different. Women typically lean forward or sit perched on the front of their seats (like I do!) while men often slouch against their backrests. You may not be surprised to learn that the sort of bird-like perching increases one’s risk for back pain. So what to do?
Well, Förster, who has designed for Cappellini and Poltrona Frau, among other companies, created “Lei.” It’s a chair for Swedish manufacturer, Officeline ,that features an innovative back cushion that supports the lumbar region as its user moves backward and forward in her seat. Lei (which means “her” in Italian) is sized to female proportions. In an interview with Metropolis magazine, Förster explains how her team “shortened the length of the armrests so they wouldn’t get in the way when you want to get close to a work surface”…and “by placing the arms in the back rather than the side, we created more room for larger hips.”
A decade ago, a “women’s” office chair most likely would have been a pink Aeron. It’s refreshing to see this kind of needs inspired by the user design coming to the marketplace.
About Allison Arieff:
Allison Arieff is Editor-at-Large for Sunset and writes the By Design column for the NY Times. From 2002-2006, she was Editor in Chief of Dwell (and was the magazine’s founding senior editor). She lectures frequently on design and sustainability and is author of the books Prefab and Trailer Travel, and the editor of numerous books on design and culture including Airstream: The History of the Land Yacht. Read more articles by Allison at Growers & Nomads.
About Growers & Nomads:
The name is drawn from the idea that we are all growers and we are all nomads.
Each of us has both a deep need to ground ourselves in home, family and community as well as an innate curiosity that propels us to explore the world beyond. The ways we go about doing this is what makes us individuals and defines our lives.
Both parts of our selves—the rooted and the restless—are interwoven in our beings. Sometimes one part comes to the fore and is more dominant than the other; sometimes they mingle. But we built this site because, no matter where we journey, we always come home.
Growers and Nomads offers you a place of conversation—where you can talk to us and with others like you; a place to talk about how home is a metaphor for life.
Visit Growers & Nomads.
Resources: Monica Forster, Office Line
