Pop art meets practical in an unusual chair design by Joey Zeledón Studio — and you’ll never run out of hangers again.



Side view of Joey Zeledón's Coat Check Chair
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The Coat Check Chair is a fun design that “creates unexpected meaning in mundane objects” by slipping colorful plastic clothes hangers around a steel closet rod bent into the shape of a chair. That might not sound terribly comfortable, but the design appears to be surprisingly ergonomic, with the hangers providing just enough flexibility to fit the form of the sitter’s body.


The design is a fun update on Marcel Breuer’s iconic 1928 Cesca Chair, which helped popularize tubular steel furniture with its cantilevered form. But instead of padding it with the usual foam and upholstery, Zeledón’s Coat Check Chair takes that instantly recognizable frame silhouette and leaves it up to the user to customize it with extra hangers.



Joey Zeledón's Coat Check Chair



The steel rings that adorn the Coat Check Chair.


Zeledón explains: “This iconic designer chair creates unexpected meaning in mundane objects. Recombining clothes hangers and a steel closet rod, it elevates these pedestrian artifacts into something special. By bringing the elements of the closet into the foreground of a person’s daily routine, the Coat Check Chair offers a unique design and a gentle encouragement to stay neat.”


“The hangers’ flexible plastic makes the chair surprisingly comfortable, while its impermanent construction lets users customize [it] in terms of hanger color and pattern. Timeless and practical, the Coat Check Chair can fit in your studio, home, boutique, hotel, or gallery, letting your closet join the party.”


To demonstrate the strength of the result, Zeledón stands on the stacked hangers with all 170 pounds of his weight, bouncing and rocking slightly. Welded steel rings hold the hangers in place on the frame so they sit in just the right position to offer a seat and back.



Joey Zeledón's Coat Check Chair


The chair frame comes with a set of standard-sized hangers from The Container Store to get you started, but you can customize it and change its look however you like simply by purchasing additional hangers in different colors. It’s probably safe to side with Joan Crawford here and say “no wire hangers,” however, given that plastic is a bit more forgiving and lacks any pointy ends to poke you with.


It’s easy to imagine the Coat Check Chair being a fun way to add a bit of seating to a walk-in closet or dressing area, giving you a way to organize extra hangers and making sure you always have plenty on hand. As a design statement, it’s surprisingly successful despite its use of such mundane materials, especially when viewed from the side. Plus, the cascade of hangers gives it a bit of a dynamic quality.


Zeledón first developed the chair as a student project at Rochester Institute of Technology, and it has since gone on to win numerous design awards, including a Core77 Design Award Notable, Spark Silver Award, and an I.D. Design Distinction Award.



Person sitting on the Coat Check Chair


If you want to snag one for yourself, check out the project’s Kickstarter campaign, which is currently offering the chair as a reward for a pledge of $449 or more.