Herman Miller Embody Chair Review

By Olin Coles

Manufacturer: Herman Miller, Inc.
Product Name: Embody Chair
Price As Tested: $1199 (Amazon)

Is a chair’s purpose merely to furnish a place for us to sit? There are countless directions to discuss this subjective matter, but suffice it to say that a chair’s purpose goes beyond a solid foundation for resting our weight. In an ideal chair, the design would be suitable for hours of comfortable sitting. The chair would accommodate healthy posture, and relieve stress from load-bearing joints. Ideally, this chair would be attractive and feature a look as competent as its ability. There is such a chair.

Herman Miller is a company that engineers function and architects fashion. They’ve dominated the industry for decades with elite furniture, and influenced our perception of what a chair should be. Herman Miller’s Aeron chair, one of the few commercial products added into the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection, was introduced in 1994 and has set the bar immeasurably high for every chair that’s come thereafter. It seems fitting then, that Herman Miller, the name behind the world’s most admired chair, has returned to improve upon their prestige.

Welcome the Herman Miller Embody chair. Designed specifically for people who work for hours at their computer, Embody is the first work chair that benefits both mind and body. More than just a solution towards minimizing the negative effects of sitting, Herman Miller’s Embody chair was also designed to deliver positive effects on the body. In this article Benchmark Reviews takes you on a tour of the Herman Miller Embody ergonomic office chair, and demonstrates how much better sitting all day can feel.

Herman Miller offers a large collection of modern furniture, and if price compels comfort, these pieces are worth their weight in gold. The Aeron chair, which became de facto office equipment for the dot-com industry in the late 1990’s (for me it was 800batteries.com in 1998 and igo.com in 1999), was a huge success for Herman Miller. This popular ergonomic chair became a household name, but its price tag limited adoption to only the most affluent consumers. In the computer hardware industry, these people are also called enthusiasts. Enthusiasts love to have ‘the best’ that this world can offer. In the realm of office chairs the best is called Embody, and it’s made by Herman Miller.