CHARLES EAMES (USA, 1907 – 1978) & RAY EAMES (USA, 1912 – 1988) for VITRA Editor. A set of eight Soft Pad armchairs, model EA-208. Designed in 1969. Full-leather edition with newly upholstered black aniline leather. Swivel base and armrests in chromed aluminium. Made at Vitra, with labels. Slight marks of use. Measurements: 85 x 58 x 58 cm. The Soft Pad office chair by Charles and Ray Eames was created in 1969 for Vitra. It has an argonomic shape that adapts easily to the contours of the body, and is in keeping with the elegant language developed by the Eames couple in the fifties and sixties. Charles and Ray Eames, a married couple and artistic couple, worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film, and are responsible for numerous designs that have become classics of the 20th century. Charles Eames studied architecture for two years at the University of Washington, then began his career working in a studio on residential housing projects. In 1938 he moved to Cranbrook, Michigan, to continue studying architecture and design at the city's Academy of Art. He eventually became a teacher there, heading the industrial design department. Together with Eero Saarinen, the son of his teacher Eliel Saarinen, he designed the trophy for the Organic Design Prize, awarded by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1941, after divorcing his first wife, he married his colleague at Cranbrook, Ray Kaiser. Together they settled in Los Angeles, where they remained for the rest of their lives. In the late 1940s, Ray and Charles designed their home together, known as the "Eames House", now considered a masterpiece of modern architecture. In the 1950s the couple continued to work in architecture and furniture design, pioneering the use of new techniques and materials such as fibreglass and plastic resin in the manufacture of chairs. They are currently represented in the Design Museum in London and the MoMA in New York, among many others.