"When thinking about this project, my starting point was the American courthouse chair. These chairs were such a visible part of the American landscape because of their very powerful presence. Using this historical reference, I wanted to create a chair that is contemporary and a reflection of my design vocabulary. I have worked with so many different materials in my career and used various technologies, but I have never designed a wood chair, and it is something I have always wanted to do.

As in all my work, the Anne chair is about sculpting a material: creating something that has a human dimension and looks interesting from any view. In the case of chairs, there must be some reference for the eye to read comfort and tactility. For this reason I wanted to use walnut, because it has so much character and depth. It is a warm material, and you can almost feel the age of the tree in its personality.

This Anne chair is complex to make and It is a combination of old-world craftsmanship and technology using master carvers and seven Axis CNC machines. My concept for the leather seat was similar to people buying jeans that look and feel a little broken-in before they are worn. I wanted the seat to be very fluid, almost as if it were poured into the frame, as opposed to being a distinctly separate element. This casual draping effect speaks to prior use and provides a visual cue regarding comfort. The final result is a chair that is rather timeless, one where it is difficult to assign a time and date." - Ross Lovegrove

Ross Lovegrove studied design at Manchester Polytechnic and subsequently trained at the Royal College of Art in London. At frog design, he contributed to the design of the Sony Walkman and Apple computers. As an in-house designer for Knoll International in Paris, Lovegrove worked on the Alessandri office system. As a co-member of the Atelier de Nimes, along with Philippe Starck and Jean Nouvel, he acted as a design consultant to Luis Vuitton, Cacharel, Dupont and Hermés. In 1990, he created Studio X in London. Lovegrove is inspired by forms of the natural world, the possibilities of new manufacturing techniques and the ability to evoke an emotional response in users.

The Anne chair, which derives its name from Bernhardt Design founder Anne Harper Bernhardt, is available in solid American walnut with a hand oiled natural finish. The seat has a flange stitch detail and is available in your choice of leather in a range of color-ways.