Herman Miller

A design-led furniture house with regional stores

Herman Miller is an American furniture company and part of the MillerKnoll group. Its site sends visitors through a location selector that splits the world into five regions: United States and Canada; Europe, with separate sites for Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and "Other Europe"; Asia Pacific, with Australia, India, China, Japan and "Other Asia Region/Market"; Latin America and Caribbean, with Brazil and Mexico sites; and the Middle East and Africa. Each region has its own site, so prices, stock and delivery terms depend on which one a buyer picks. The footer lists three ways to buy: "Online", "Find a dealer" and "Showrooms", plus a "Where to Buy" link in the header. The homepage currently promotes a new showroom and store in Clerkenwell, London.

History, briefly

The About page tells the founding story plainly: in 1923 D.J. De Pree and his father-in-law, Herman Miller, bought the Michigan Star Furniture Company, and De Pree "renamed the company after Miller, who was a well-regarded businessman in the community." The timeline adds that De Pree had joined Michigan Star as a clerk at 18. The company moved into modern design after De Pree hired Gilbert Rohde in 1930, and later George Nelson, who brought in Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard and Isamu Noguchi. The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman were introduced on US national television, on The Today Show, in 1956. On the business side, the timeline notes facilities opening in the UK and France in 1984 and dealerships in Korea, Malaysia and Australia in 1985. In 1994 it returned to home furniture with the launch of Herman Miller for the Home. The About page says Herman Miller opened "America's first stand-alone manufacturer's showroom in Chicago" in 1939, joined "the MillerKnoll collective" in 2021, and "celebrated its 100th brand anniversary" in 2023.

The office chairs

Herman Miller's work chairs go back further than most buyers realize. The timeline marks 1976 as the year it introduced the Ergon Chair, "and a new era of ergonomic seating begins." The Equa Chair followed in 1984 and won a Design of the Decade award from Time magazine in 1989, Ergon 2 arrived in 1988, and Ergon 3, Equa 2 and the Ambi chair came in 1995. In 2002 the company introduced PostureFit, which the timeline calls "a major ergonomic breakthrough in seating"; that is Herman Miller describing its own back-support design.

The current task chairs came next. The Aeron arrived in 1994 with an unusual honor: "Herman Miller, Inc., introduces the Aeron Chair and the New York Museum of Modern Art adds it to its 20th Century Design Collection." In 2003 Herman Miller introduced the Mirra Chair, which the timeline calls "the first piece of office furniture to be developed from its conception according to cradle-to-cradle principles," and it later added Mirra 2. In 2008 came the Embody Chair, "designed by Jeff Weber and the late Bill Stumpf." More recently the timeline notes that "its entire Aeron Chair portfolio will contain ocean-bound plastic."

The awards page gives each of these a track record. In 2002 Fast Company named the Aeron among "the 15 best-designed consumer products of the past 100 years." The Aeron also won a Design of the Decade award from Business Week and the Industrial Designers Society of America, a Silver IDEA award, a Gold G-Mark from Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 2001 and a "Good Design Long Life Design Award" from the same ministry in 2011, and a "Good Design Award" in Australia for the remastered Aeron in 2017. The Mirra received a Best of NeoCon Gold in 2003 and the FIRA Ergonomics Excellence Award in 2004. The Embody was named "Best of 2008" by WIRED and received Best of NeoCon Silver in the Ergonomic Desk/Task Seating category in 2009. These are awards the company lists about itself.

Gaming chairs

Herman Miller also sells gaming seating under a separate "Shop Gaming" menu. The homepage headline reads "Introducing Nova and Ignite", with the line "Our most advanced gaming chair is ready for an all-new look." The timeline also mentions a Vantum chair "for gaming" introduced alongside the Zeph Chair and Pronta Stacking Chair.

The wider catalog

Seating on the site covers office chairs, side chairs, stacking chairs, ESD seating (chairs built for static-sensitive work areas), stools, lounge seating and benches. Beyond chairs, the menus list workstations and desks, private office furniture, tables and storage. Recent awards on the list include the Fuld Nesting Chair by Stefan Diez and the Zeph Chair by Studio 7.5, both MetropolisLikes NeoCon Award winners, and the OE1 Workspace Collection, which won in the Workplaces category of the 2021 Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards. The company also lists a Platinum rating in CSR from EcoVadis in 2021.

Prices and promotions

The homepage was running a sale offering 25% off everything, "from ergonomic icons to stylish lighting." Prices are set per region and per configuration, so the amount a buyer pays for an Aeron or Embody depends on the country site, the size, the finish and the options chosen. The homepage and About pages do not quote a chair price.

Support

The footer links to Customer Service, a dedicated "Chair Adjustments" help page, Contact Us, Media Relations and "Become a Dealer" for businesses that want to carry the brand. There are also sections for "Research" and "Small and Medium Business". The company's about, awards and timeline pages do not state warranty terms, return windows or delivery times; those sit with each regional store.

Who it suits

Herman Miller suits a buyer who wants one of the long-established task chairs, the Aeron, Mirra or Embody, and who can buy through a regional store, dealer or showroom in one of the listed regions. Its long run of design awards and museum recognition is well documented on its own site. A buyer comparing seat depth, weight ratings or warranty length needs the individual product pages on their regional store, since the brand's About, awards and timeline pages focus on history and design rather than specifications.