1. Tamiami

Steve Elton: "This collection goes back to the late 50s and it was named after the Tamiami Trial that runs between Tampa and Miami. The concept behind this collection was developed because we were looking for a light weight chair that didn’t need a lot of maintenance. One of our Founders, Robert Brown had seen a chair made of wood and leather inside an American Indian exhibit at a museum in Pasadena. He was so inspired that he decided to create Tamiami: one of the first tubular collections in our industry built with vinyl straps. Brown Jordan has always been an innovative design oriented company. It was also a game changer because it attracted the interest of Bloomingdales to our brand. Our partnership with Bloomindales helped elevate our brand on a national level and it brought us to the east coast."

2. Kantan

Steve Elton: “In my opinion, this is the best story in our company. Kantan was introduced in 1958 and it’s a slightly different version of Tamiami. We partnered with Japanese designer Tadao Inouye in Chicago to collaborate with us on this mid-century design. During the Casual Furniture Market that year, Kantan ends up winning the design award for the best collection of the year! Basically, instead of running vinyl over the chair like Tamiami, we ran it the other way in a box cut. There are photos of the Kennedy’s during the 60s and 70s using our Kantan chairs in their homes. It became an iconic design throughout the years. In 2012, we worked with Sunbrella to produce a new design concept using Brown Jordan suncloth fabric that was sewn over as an elastomeric stretchable core. This new fabric offered the properties of the acrylic sunbrella fabric (which are known for its movement and stretch) but with added comfort. Essentially, we were able to develop an outdoor fabric but with an indoor feel. During the 2012 Casual Furniture Show in Chicago, we re-introduced the Kantan collection using brass (rather than aluminum) and this innovative Sunbrella strap. It won the best design award! This is a perfect example of why our designs are truly timeless. It’s my favorite story. Innovation at its best!”

3. Flex

Steve Elton: "We were so successful with this new stretchable strap. When you look at Kantan and Tamiami, they’re visually similar but it’s all about the details. Flex is a larger scale chair combining cast and extruded aluminum with a 2-inch strap instead of a 1-inch lace. It gives you a whole new look and feel. We wanted to create a more linear design to get more use out of the suncloth strap and lace so this collection was developed in 2013."

For more information, call Brown Jordan at 480.998.1142, or visit brownjordan.com.

Brown Jordan at Scottsdale Quarter is located at 15345 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite K190, Scottsdale 85254.