The history of the Eames Hang It All
A mid-century classic that still graces many a home today - the Eames Hang it All was first designed for children in 1953. We take a look into the history of the playful, iconic design.
An icon of mid-century design, the colourful lollipop-style balls of the Eames Hang It All are an instantly recognisable classic. A popular choice for homes since its release in the 1950s, we take a look at the history behind the design.
The Eames Hang It All has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1953. While it was originally designed to encourage children to hang up their belongings, it has become not only an object coveted by both children and adults alike but an icon representative of the whole of the mid-century modern era.
The duo began designing colourful products for children in the early 1940s. Their designs included building blocks, children’s masks, the Eames Elephant, and later, the Hang It All - a welded steel coat rack topped with 14 multi-coloured balls.
Their playful children’s designs were carried out with utter seriousness and given the same careful design consideration as the couple’s furniture designs. In fact, the Hang It All (especially its welded steel frame) is viewed by some as the prototype for their famous wire-based chairs of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Through the years the coat rack has undergone some bold transformations. In 2011, the Hang It All was released in three limited edition finishes: a red metal version with spruce balls, a black version with walnut balls and a black version with black beech balls. Whilst marking a step away from the Eames’s colourful and playful original, the new sophisticated finishes appealed to a fresh audience and were a huge success.
Most recently, the Hang It All has been reinvented by Vitra, with the help of Hella Jongerius and her Colour and Surface Library, and released in three fresh colourways.
The new colours were designed in celebration of what would have been Ray’s 100th birthday (15th December 2012) and were launched four months later at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2013.
The latest designs come in three distinctive colour palettes - red (red frame with red, orange and peach balls), green (green frame with sage, seafoam and apple-green balls) and white (white frame with white, grey and blue balls) and give a new perspective to this modern classic.
Browse the full collection of authentic Eames Hang It All designs at nest.co.uk.
Image credits: Eames Office, Herman Miller.
