The Monroe Chair by Alexander White

Marilyn Monroe is the icon of the moment - providing inspiration for everything from films to photoshoots, and now a chair.

Designed by Alexander White, a recent University College Falmouth graduate, the Monroe chair was inspired by the famous scene in The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955) in which the actress's skirt billows around her as she stands over a pavement grate.

White explains that he wanted to capture the "energy, flow and movement" of that moment, using the latest production technology: "It became a starting point for designing a chair made from multiples of the same component, with the intention of using CNC machinery to drastically simplify the manufacturing process. The armrest gently morphs into the front leg and the back leg into the backrest."

Subscribers can also read our S/S 2012 macro trend Cinematic, which draws on the saturated glamour of 1950s Americana and the filter of the screen to create a tinted, gently nostalgic direction for the season ahead.