Miss Blanche Chair, 1989
Ishimaru Co. Ltd, Japan

Designer
Shiro Kuramata

Material
Acrylic, lacquered tubular aluminium, artificial roses

Dimensions
W 93.7 cm, H 63.2 cm, D 51.4 cm

Created for KAGU Tokyo Designer's Week', Kuramata’s sublime chair Miss Blanche, one of his best-known works, was inspired by the corsage worn by Vivien Leigh in the role of Blanche Dubois in the movie version of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. To create this chair, he gathered various kinds of artificial flowers from all over Japan and made models over and over until he achieved the illusion that the flowers were floating in space.

Kuramata wanted the cheap artificial red roses floating in perspex acrylic to represent the frailty and vanity of Blanche DuBois. Somehow Kuramata seemed to identify with her, perhaps because of his own childhood nickname usotsuki Shiro 'fibster Shiro'.

During the final stage of production, the acrylic was laid in its mould and the roses were held in place with tweezers. Kuramata reportedly telephoned the factory staff every thirty minutes to say, 'Make sure they float'.