Poltrona Joe: baseball glove chair design story

Key facts

• Poltrona Joe was designed in 1971 by Jonathan De Pas, Donato D'Urbino, and Paolo Lomazzi.
• The chair was produced by Italian company Poltronova.
• The design was inspired by a baseball glove and intended as an homage to Joe Di Maggio.
• The prototype was first made in clay, then plaster.
• The final chair was made of injected polyurethane.
• Sergio Camilli, founder of Poltronova, was concerned about rights to use Joe Di Maggio's name.
• Paolo Lecci devised the slogan 'JOE… di maggio, giugno, luglio…'.
• The advertising poster was created by Mario Lovergine using animation cel technique and Letraset.
• The chair was exhibited at MoMA in 1972 in the show 'Italy: The New Domestic Landscape'.
• The exhibition established the designers' reputation in the design world.