The LCW (Low Chair Wood), also referred to as the ​“potato chip” chair, was the original design that connected Charles and Ray Eames to Herman Miller, Inc. The chairs resolved the Eames’ quest for practical, low cost seating that could be easily mass-produced. Each component of the chair was streamlined into a minimal organic shape and produced separately, thereby eliminating the need to replace an entire chair if one component cracked during the assembly process. The chairs were initially produced in ash, birch, rosewood, and walnut and could also be aniline-dyed red and black, or covered in a wide variety of fabrics. An affordable and beautiful chair produced by the thousands, the LCW was awarded the distinction, ​“Best Design of the Century” in 1999 by Time Magazine.

The husband and wife design team of Charles and Ray Eames rank among the most influential designers of the twentieth century. Their design philosophy of ​“the-way-it-should-be-ness” continues to influence generations of students and designers and their work exemplifies American design ingenuity in the modern era. Charles met Ray (born Bernice Alexandra Kaiser), at the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where he was teaching industrial design and Ray was studying textile design. They married in 1941 and moved to Pacific Palisades, California, where they established the Eames Office, a studio dedicated to solving problems through design.