The Woman Behind Le Corbusier’s Iconic Chaise Almost Didn’t Get the Job

In 1927, at just 24, Charlotte Perriand waltzed into Le Corbusier’s atelier. She asked for a job and was swiftly rejected with the now infamous line, "We don’t embroider cushions here." She was neither amused nor deterred. Perriand designed Bar Sous le Toit ("Bar Under the roof") made of curved chrome, glass, and aluminum for Paris’s annual Salon d’Automne, recreating a space she’d originally built on the top floor of her own apartment. Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier’s cousin and collaborator, brought him to see Perriand’s installation. Le Corbusier was so impressed that he apologized and hired her as a furniture designer.

Perriand made significant contributions to Le Corbusier’s furniture oeuvre, collaborating often with Corbu and Jeanneret. In 1928, the trio designed a collection of tubular steel chairs, including the LC4 Chaise Lounge, which were exhibited at the 1929 Salon d’Automne. Le Corbusier called the chaise lounge (originally the B 306 model) the "relaxing machine" for its simulation of the body’s natural curves. The chaise and other chairs from the landmark collaboration have been manufactured by Cassina since the mid-1960s.

Perriand worked at Le Corbusier’s Paris atelier until 1937 and went on to have a career filled with hugely influential designs and collaborations. She worked for many years with glass, molded aluminum, and steel before moving onto cane and woodworking. "There is one thing I never did," she remarked in a 1999 interview, shortly before her death, "and that was flirt. That is, I didn’t ‘dabble,’ I created and produced, and my job was important."

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