Emeco Announces That Restoration Hardware Will Permanently Cease Selling “Naval Chair” Product Line

Emeco's Navy Chair® is a design icon that has graced the covers of fashion magazines, appeared in Hollywood movies, and now is in permanent collections in art museums around the world. (Photo: Business Wire)

HANOVER, Pa.--()--Emeco Industries, Inc. today announced that its dispute concerning Restoration Hardware’s “Naval Chair” product line has been settled. As part of that settlement, Restoration Hardware has agreed to permanently cease selling the chairs that Emeco accused of infringement, and its existing inventory of such chairs will be recycled. Emeco’s Navy Chair products are available for sale directly from Emeco at http://www.emeco.net/ and from authorized retailers.

Emeco began production of the Navy Chair® in 1944 under contract with the United States Navy, which wanted a chair capable of withstanding fire, weather, war and sailors. Because of its lightweight, durability and recycled content, the chair soon became a fixture across America in police stations, prisons, schools and hospitals. As the Navy Chair® became a design icon, it graced the covers of fashion magazines, appeared in Hollywood movies, and was ordered by restaurants and other establishments worldwide. Celebrated for its craftsmanship and sustainable composition, the Navy Chair® is now in permanent collections in art museums around the world.

In 2012 Emeco launched three new design collaborations; the first was the “Sezz collection” designed by Christophe Pillet, launched during Maison & Objet in Paris 2012. A series of handmade chairs, stools and swivels made of recycled aluminum, the Sezz collection was first installed at the Sezz hotel in St. Tropez, south of France. Later the same year, Emeco launched the “Broom chair” designed by Philippe Starck at the Milan Furniture fair, a chair made of 90% industrial waste in a combination of reclaimed polypropylene and reclaimed wood fiber. The Broom later won Interior Design Magazine’s prestigious Best Green furniture award and the 2012 - ICFF Editors awards; Multiple Production.

In the fall of 2012 Emeco launched the “SoSo collection” in collaboration with Jean Nouvel at the Kortrijk Interieur fair in Belgium. A series of handmade chairs and stools made from recycled aluminum, the SoSo collection was first installed in hotel Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom. In November 2012, Emeco and Konstantin Grcic collaborated on the installation of mobile interiors for Parrish Art Museum in Long Island, New York, designed by Herzog & De Meuron. The full “Parrish Collection” will be officially launched at the Milan Furniture Fair in April 2013.

For the past fifteen years, Emeco has collaborated with the world’s best designers, starting with Philippe Starck, with whom Emeco developed a series of products, including the “Hudson” chair, designed for the Hudson Hotel. In 2001, the Hudson won the GOOD Design Award and was accepted into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. In 2004, Emeco CEO Gregg Buchbinder began working with Frank Gehry to develop “Superlight,” which won a GOOD design award and was accepted into the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Pinakotherk in Munich. In 2005, designer Adrian van Hooydonk, BMW Design Group Designworks USA and Foster and Partners designed “20-06,” a stacking chair for the 2006 Smithsonian addition in Washington, DC. “20-06” won a Good Design, a Spark Design Award and the 2008 Baden-Württemberg International Design Award for environmentally progressive new products. In 2008, Emeco launched the “Nine-O Collection” by Ettore Sottsass and the following year the “Morgans” chair by Andrée Putman, designed for the restored Morgans Hotel in New York City. In 2010, Emeco launched the “Lancaster Collection,” designed by British designer Michael Young.

In 2010, Emeco presented the 111 Navy Chair in a joint venture with the Coca-Cola company. Embracing the challenge to reduce the number of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles ending up in the U.S. landfills, Emeco and Coca-Cola created a Navy Chair made with 111 up-cycled Coca-Cola PET bottles. Two years later, the Emeco/Coca-Cola partnership had taken more than nine million plastic bottles out of landfills. The 111 Navy Chair® has won the GOOD DESIGN Award, the IF International Design Forum Product Design Award, several awards in thee International Plastic Design competition, Dwell Modern World awards; winner of the 2011 Work category, Editors Choice Award at the 96th edition of International Hotel, Mote & Restaurant show (IHMRS) and the Second Boutique Design New York (BDNY); Awarded Best Green design.

Emeco is on the leading edge of a movement in product development that promises a new, more intelligent and sustainable way of life. Producing up-cycled chairs and stools in collaboration with some of the world’s leading designers, architects, institutions, and respected global brands, Emeco and its partners share a commitment to a better, more beautiful future.

Contacts

Emeco Industries, Inc.
Lia Forslund, Director of Communications
lia@emeco.net
+46708111826
www.emeco.net
or
Magnuson & Co.
Bob Magnuson
949-290-9382
rgm@magnusonandcompany.com
www.magnusonandcompany.com

Contacts

Emeco Industries, Inc.
Lia Forslund, Director of Communications
lia@emeco.net
+46708111826
www.emeco.net
or
Magnuson & Co.
Bob Magnuson
949-290-9382
rgm@magnusonandcompany.com
www.magnusonandcompany.com