Header: Courtesy of Chloé
Chloé’s Tomato Chair is a 2026 re-edition of a rare chair designed in 1970 by the French designer Christian Adam. The new version was developed with Poltronova under the creative direction of Chemena Kamali and was presented during Milan Design Week at the Chloé boutique on Via della Spiga 30.
Chloé’s interest in the chair shouldn’t come as a surprise to those familiar with Kamali, as her work has been defined by a 1970s-inspired sense of softness, fluidity and sensual ease.
Christian Adam’s Tomato Chair
The original chair comes from a time when furniture was moving away from rigid forms and fixed uses towards the more eclectic look of the 70s. Adam’s version abandons the usual split between seat, back and arms and instead forms the chair as one padded volume made of rounded upholstered sections.
Its outline recalls a tomato, while its soft, curved form fits right in with the styles of Radical Design, Pop furniture and 1970s lounge culture. A vintage description of the chair notes a concealed underside panel and small hidden feet, details that were chosen on purpose, as they allow the Tomato Chair to look like a simple swollen mass resting near the ground.
Chloé describes the original design as emerging from a moment of cultural and creative liberation, with an emphasis on comfort, sensuality and freedom of form. In that setting, furniture moved away from neutral modernist rules, allowing for more bodily, playful, and exaggerated forms. The Tomato Chair belongs to that moment.
Chloé’s version
Chloé’s re-edition is produced in soft, naturally tanned leather and offered in four colours: cream, cognac, sand and black. The brand describes it as an exclusive made-to-order edition produced with contemporary manufacturing techniques that allow the original design to be born again with the utmost quality. By contrast, the vintage chair was upholstered in brown faux leather.
What stays the same in both the 1970 chair and the 2026 re-edition is its form. It is still the same low, rounded and compact chair that collectors from all around the world love.
