Since the dawn of the loom, all of humanity has experienced it. We’ve tried our best throughout the millennia, but there are some things that remain constant––that pile of clothing neither fully dirty nor completely clean. It exists in a liminal state somewhere between. Simone Giertz––designer, inventor and many other things––presents the Laundry Chair, an answer to an age-old problem. With a rotating secondary arm that is perfect for laying clothes that are worn, but not ready for the laundry basket, this chair turns what was once an eyesore into a beautiful and functional solution.
Upholstered in a smart, olive, low-pile cord, this chair is meant to stand alone, even without the laundry. Solutions must be equitable, beautiful, and do exactly what’s expected to be truly successful––and Giertz has done it again. The design is not meant to change human behavior, but to work within the parameters of how we already exist. In the case of laundry––a task that costs time, energy, and money––the unassuming chair alleviates the mental anguish of managing piles while better maintaining garments in the interim.
Various fashion cultures include slips or other undergarments to keep outer clothes clean, reducing the necessity of washing, as it still is an incredibly laborious task to complete by hand. Frequent washing is also not recommended for most fibers, much less purely natural ones. Denim purists seem to be the loudest in this regard. Either way, the smartest approach to doing less laundry is to create less in the first place, and the Laundry Chair makes that process easy. All your textiles can be lined up for visual and olfactory inspection.
“As a perfectionist… I think there’s something that I have to practice a lot, which is standing proud next to things that are imperfect, and loving them anyway,” shares Giertz. “I think it’s really about trying to focus on volume. It’s not volume in the sense that you make a bunch of content, or try out a bunch of things, but the worst position to be in is being stuck. Sharing something that’s half finished might be a great way of getting unstuck, or just keeping some sort of movement and pushing it forward”.
Not to be dramatic, but Simone Giertz may be one of the closest things to a modern-day Da Vinci that we’ve got going on. A problem-solver of novel, everyday frustrations, the smallest details are usually the ones that separate the good from great designs. Giertz turned her love of robots and engineering into a full-on obsession with invention, where common problems have the opportunity to become delightful solutions.
To learn more about the Laundry Chair by Simone Giertz, visit yetch.studio.
Photography by Yetch Studio.
