Gere Kavanaugh's Collab with Detroit-based Floyd Featured in Architectural Digest
Gere Kavanaugh with Easy Chair prototype, c. 1970s. Courtesy Floyd.
Detroit-based furniture company Floyd recently released a chair in collaboration with designer Gere Kavanaugh (MFA Design 1952) that was featured as one of Architectural Digest’s favorite collaborations. The Gere Easy Chair was a prototype Kavanaugh created in the 1970s, but it has never previously been mass-produced.
Kavanaugh’s Easy Chair prototype was based around a Sonotube, a cardboard tube used to mold poured concrete into structure columns and pillars. Through her prototype, she proposed a way to use recyclable and readily available cardboard in a practical and comfortable design, an early example of sustainable design intended for mass production.
Floyd’s Gere Easy Chair maintains the retro shape with some updates for comfort including upholstery options from Metro-detroit-based Crypton and Danish Kvadrat textiles.
Floyd team with Gere Kavanaugh seated in the Gere Easy Chair (right). Courtesy Floyd.
In 2022, Floyd also brought another Cranbrook Academy of Art alum’s design back into the spotlight. Hugh Acton’s slat bench was originally designed in 1954, while he was studying at the Academy.
Hugh Acton at Cranbrook Academy of Art working on his slat bench design.
Learn more:
Home of Gere Kavanaugh Featured in Curbed
Gere Kavanaugh Returns to Cranbrook Academy of Art to Accept Distinguished Alumni Award
