With just one glance at the Fortune Chair, you can venture a guess as to the influence behind its design: the iconic fortune cookie. Self-described foodie designers Justin Donnelly and Monling Lee of JUMBO (remember their pasta-shaped pool floats?) created this indoor/outdoor chair in reverence of the crispy, pinched cookie that we all know and love. Playful yet sophisticated, the Fortune Chair has joined Heller’s “Next Generation of Modern” designs collection since its release at NYCxDESIGN 2024. The new indoor/outdoor chair also joins a growing assortment of furniture and accessories from Heller available at Design Within Reach.
Talent like JUMBO’s can be hard to find, but sometimes it’s as easy as scrolling through your Instagram feed. In fact, that’s how the President and CEO of Heller, John Edelman, discovered the design duo. In his eyes, they already encompassed the essence of Heller, and the relationship was born.
“The Fortune Chair represents the epitome of a JUMBO project – it is symmetrical, commodious, and food-themed. We are thrilled to bring our aesthetic vision to life with the team from Heller,” say Donnelly and Lee.
Similar to breaking open a fortune cookie, the chair brings delight to any space it inhabits. Lee’s background also plays a part in its design. After growing up in Taiwan, her family emigrated to the United States when she was 13 years old, opening her life up to a world of new experiences. Lee was especially fascinated by her first fortune cookie, with its unique shape and secret hidden message. After meeting Donnelly in architecture school, a love of Chinese food and a shared sense of reductivism, whimsy, and gastronomy bonded them.
100% recyclable and made in the USA, the Fortune Chair is manufactured using a high percentage of post-consumer plastic waste. Sticking with JUMBO’s love of cuisine, the seating is available in six food-inspired colors: Oatmeal, Cookie, Olive, Tomato, Dark Cherry, and Licorice.
In celebration of the launch, DWR has put together a retrospective exhibition, Fortune Favors the Bold, located at its East 57th Studio in New York City, that takes visitors through the brand’s iconic portfolio. It culminates in a spotlighted feature of the Fortune Chair and the design process behind it. If you find yourself in the city between now and September 1, 2024, stop by 957 3rd Avenue to experience it for yourself.
To learn more about the Fortune Chair, visit hellerfurniture.com or dwr.com. To see more about JUMBO, visit jumbo.nyc.
Fortune Favors the Bold will be on display at DWR’s 57th and 3rd Studio in New York (957 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10022) through September 1, 2024.
Photography courtesy of Design Within Reach.
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