LA Chair III - Los Angeles Design Weekend 2026

“Designers, Donuts, and Coffee” AKA “The Los Angeles Chair Breakfast.”

Saturday, October 3

11am - 4pm

Location: Main Street Workshop

3011 N Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90031

The event is free and open to the public.

This is a workshop/studio location - hosted by Main Street Workshop. 100xBTR, and Wolfum.

LA Chair is an Eric Trine Studio Production.

Information

LA Chair is a curatorial project capturing contemporary chairs designed and/or made in the greater Los Angeles region.

Southern California cultivates a specific hybrid of “West Coast Studio Craft,” without any allegiance to a specific aesthetic, material, or process. There are many ways to make chairs, and all of them are represented here.

There is more of everything here, in LAish. More people. More craftspeople. Tradespeople. Vendors. Wholesalers. Distributors. Job shops. Garage shops. Factories. Big Factories. Design legacy. Craft legacy. Materials materials materials!!!

75 years ago Sam Maloof sent a letter to Charles Eames asking for business advice, about licensing some of his furniture design for production. I’ve sent similar texts to friends.

They were both doing the same thing, but in a different way, at the same time, in LA. (Even though they technically lived 60 miles across town from each other.) I’m out in Long Beach. I’ve got friends in North Hollywood, Burbank, DTLA, Highland Park, South Pas to the South Bay, it’s allllllllllll LA.

Los Angeles is underneath some of the most informative designs and designers in modern architecture and design history. This project is a continuation of that documentation.

We make different moves on the West Coast.

This curation, this project, is a snapshot. A survey.

What is being made here right now?

What is being designed here right now?

That’s it. That is the criteria.

These are LA Chairs.

SUBMISSION CRITERIA

1. Designed or Made in LA, currently.

2. Must be totally safe to sit in by the general public.

3. Must allow the general public to sit in the chair.

4. Prototypes and Student work are allowed IF you meet 1-3.

5. You must “Pack in and Pack Out” your chair on the day of the event.

Do you have an LA Chair?

Email me - eric@erictrine.com

Subject: LA Chair, Your Name.

ALL CHAIRS will be accepted if the 5 criteria are met.
The goal is to get an accurate representation of chairs being made in LA right now. That’s it.

Student chairs, prototypes, one-offs, all fair play. Just make sure they are safe to sit!!!

The event is really simple. The vibe is informal.

DAY OF DETAILS - For Exhibitors

This is a “Pack in/Pack Out” Event.

3011 N Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90031.

Load-in Day Of: 9am-10:30am - pull up in your truck, van, or hatchback with your chair, and carry it into the show, place it in line with the other. Enjoy some coffee and pastries with the rest of the chair crew!

Load-Out Day: 4-5pm - load out your chair, and cruise out to another LADW event.

Note: You do not need to be at the show the whole time, or at all. You can drop off and pick up later. It’s up to you. Choose your own level of engagement/energy.

EVENT FORMAT: LADW is a progressive event structure, moving attendees from event to event.

https://www.ladesignweekend.com

It’s a great communal event that captures the spirit of the fair - this is what is being made here in LA right now!

Please email me with any questions you may have.

____________________

The aim of this project is to create a working archive of chairs designed and made in LA currently, culminating in a publication: “LA Chair” (2026ish).

We are at the very beginning stages…

In 2020 I was asked to co-curate an exhibition on California Design for the Long Beach Museum of Art.

We narrowed the field and selected 20 studios working in LA, covering a range of “products” from early to mid career designer/makers.

The curation was an attempt to capture the zeitgeist rather than pull from the deep archives.

This project seeks to do the same. There is so much being made here in LA, and in so many different aesthetics.

The first event was held at the Stephen Kenn Loft in the Arts District in DTLA in collaboration with programming for Los Angeles Design Weekend, June 2024.

Chairs By:

Bend Goods, Brendan Sowersby, Haoda Ma, Nathan Max, Sugihara Fine Furniture, Stephen Kenn, Tomoki Design

LADW write up and LA Chair mention on Dezeen: https://www.dezeen.com/2024/07/16/los-angeles-design-weekend-2024/

In October, we hosted another LA Chair event featuring chairs from: Paramorph Studio, Earl Home, Sean Woolsey, Rad Furniture, Mexa Design, and Stephen Kenn.