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The story behind the famous eileen gray bibendum chair is unclear; some claim it was made for Madame Levy, a boutique owner known to the designer, and others claim it was made for someone else. But in the very beginning there was agreement that it was not a successful design. While the design was criticized for its lack of sophistication, and apparently lack of stability, she nonetheless held steady to the concepts behind the chair. And, as is so often the case, the critics were proved wrong eventually, as the chair became, and today remains, a very popular design, and still evocative of the Michelin Man after which it is named.

Aeron chairs gained popularity for a number of reasons, including design and style. But it also gained popularity because it came on the scene about the same time that companies began to pay attention to ergonomics and the high cost of bad posture encouraged by other types of chair designs. While the original cost of the chair might have been higher than its competitors, many companies found that the chair’s ergonomic advantages more than justified the increased cost. Since that time, many companies have taken the same steps, rationalizing that the extra couple hundred dollars for the chair pales in comparison to the cost of losing a valuable employee to lower back pain or other issues cause by bad chair designs.