Ministry of Supply x Rarify - Eames Soft Pad

This is a vintage Eames Soft Pad executive chair that has been disassembled, restored, and reupholstered in Lunar Grey Soft Fusion—a stretchy, athletic-grade textile originally developed for apparel. The restoration work comes from Rarify, a firm that specializes in bringing mid-century furniture back to working condition. The fabric comes from Ministry of Supply, which typically makes office clothing engineered to flex and breathe.

The result is a classic silhouette dressed in material that moves when you do. The Soft Fusion textile has four-way stretch, so it gives instead of binding when you shift position or lean back. The Lunar Grey colorway is a muted neutral with a slight warmth—a shade inspired by the era when the original chair first appeared.

Each piece starts as a used Eames chair sourced by Rarify, then goes through their restoration process. Worn components are replaced or refurbished. The cushions are reupholstered in the performance fabric, which wraps the familiar ribbed form. The frame, base, and tilt mechanism receive attention as needed to restore function.

You get a chair that looks like the original but feels different under your hands and against your back. The fabric has a soft hand and a matte finish, not the leather or vinyl typical of these frames. It stretches where traditional upholstery stays rigid, which changes how the chair responds to movement.

This collaboration pairs two approaches: Rarify's hands-on furniture restoration and Ministry of Supply's technical textile development. Both companies have roots at MIT. The chair itself is the Soft Pad model, recognizable by its horizontal ribbing and aluminum frame. The Lunar Grey colorway references the moon landing, which happened the same year the chair design debuted.