There’s good news and bad news for furniture fans who want to find a low-cost replica of the iconic Barcelona chair.
Designed by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and modernist designer Lilly Reich in 1929, the original Barcelona chair made its debut in the German Pavilion of the International Exposition.
(That year the expo was held in Barcelona, Spain, which is where the chair’s name comes from.)
[image: Luistxo / Wikimedia]
Created for King Alfonso and other Spanish royalty to use when kicking off the expo, the original design was simple, sophisticated and eye-catching.
But the chair really became an icon of modern design (and a favorite of interior designers) after the 1950s, when it got an upgrade to the highest quality materials:
Models made after 1950 sport a stainless steel frame and supple Italian leather cushions, held in place by leather straps, all of which helped elevate the already iconic designs.
While the Knoll company still sells the genuine Barcelona chair, the price tag puts it way out of reach for most of us:
At about $10,000, you could easily redesign your entire living room for the price of the Knoll chair!
A Few Good Dupes
(but, like, only a few)
And for those seeking the same style at a lower price, here’s where the good news/bad news comes in.
The good news is that today there are a couple ways to get a stylish and high quality replica Barcelona chair that looks just as good as the original, but costs a lot less.
But the bad news is that when I say a couple, I mean it literally: I only found two examples of companies who seem to offer high-quality Barcelona chair reproductions year-round.
(There are sometimes other options available on sites like Amazon Wayfair, but they have no user reviews and seem to come and go out of stock on a whim, so I wouldn’t recommend rolling the dice on them.)
Below I’ll break down what I think are the best reproduction Barcelona chairs on the market, and share a few alternative options that don’t have quite the same style, but have a similar vibe and come in a wider range of colors and price points.
Our Top Picks↓
You can use the table of contents to jump down to a full summary of each chair below, but here are your best bets, based on my research:
- Best Overall Replica Barcelona Chair: Sohnne Barcelona Chair Replica
- Potentially Risky Runner Up: Eternity Modern Barcelona Chair
- Best “Almost-But-Not-Quite” Homage: Alexuis Faux Leather Slipper Chair
Best Overall Replica Barcelona Chair:
Sohnne Barcelona Chair Replica
—————
Potentially Risky Runner Up:
Eternity Modern Barcelona Chair
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Best “Almost-But-Not-Quite” Homage:
Alexuis Faux Leather Slipper Chair
Who Wrote This Article
Irreverent Gent Founder and Editor-in-Chief Dave Bowden has been both a journalist and a mid-century modern enthusiast for more than a decade.
His style advice and shopping recommendations have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, and Men’s Health, among many other outlets.
Our Criteria for a Good Replica
Faithfulness to
Original Design
Materials &
Construction
Brand Reputation & Reviews
The three main criteria we used to assess each chair were their fidelity/similarity to the 1929 original, the quality of their materials, and the reputation of the brand who makes/sells each chair, all of which we compared to their price tag to assess their overall value.
To learn more about how we rate and review products, check out our product review and round up policy here.
First Up:
The Closest-Looking Replicas I’ve Found Online
Overall Best Barcelona Chair Replica ↓
Sohnne Barcelona Replica Chair
Pros
- Faithful design looks nearly identical to original
- High-quality materials
- Manufacturer has a good reputation online
- Good price for a well-made chair
Cons
- Made in and ships from China
Specs:
- Price: $958 for chair alone; $1,848 with Ottoman
- Upholstery:
- Material Type: Genuine Leather
- Colors Available: 4
- Base/Legs:
- Material Type: Polished Chrome
- Colors Available: 1
- Cushions Material: Polyurethane foam with polyester fiberfill
- Warranty: 12-months manufacturer warranty
Why We Like It:
Sohnne’s model really stands out because, as I alluded to above, I really couldn’t find that many Barcelona chair replicas that are faithful to the original design.
If you’re not familiar with the brand, Sohnne is an online startup that specializes in making affordable replicas of modern classics from big-name designers like Charles Eames, Florence Knoll and Eero Aarnio.
I’ve tried their Eames Chair dupe myself, and was pretty impressed with a lot of the product details, especially the quality of the leather and the frame, which punch above their weight when compared to the price tag and other comparable models.
I haven’t tried their Barcelona reproduction firsthand, but it seems to use similarly high-quality materials, including top-grain genuine leather, a hand-ground and hand-buffed chrome frame, and cushions with a down-like Dacron polyester fiberfill.
The other reason why I feel comfortable recommending Sohnne is that they have a good track record as a company. At the time of this writing they have a 4.1/5 score on Trustpilot and an A- from the Better Business Bureau, where they’re an accredited business.
Which is nice, because the replica furniture game is kind of the Wild West, with a lot of weirdly named products on sites like Wayfair and Amazon from brands that seem to come and go overnight.
But when you’re dropping a thousand bucks on a chair, you want to feel like you’re getting good value for money, and my personal experience with Sohnne is that they deliver on that front.
Plus, unlike their Eames replica, the Barcelona chair comes fully assembled, so you don’t have to fuss with any Ikea-style instructions or Allen keys, which is always a relief.
Why Some Might Not:
Sohnne’s Barcelona chairs are made in – and ship from – China, and some customers have reported long shipping times.
Sohnne’s website says that products should ship within 2 to 5 business days within the USA and Europe, but I’ve seen instances on Reddit of customers complaining about a longer delay.
Although I should note that those complaints were for the Eames chair replica; I haven’t found examples of customers complaining specifically about long waits for the Barcelona chair.
Potentially Risky Runner Up ↓
Eternity Modern Pavillion Chair
Pros
- Design faithfully mimics the original
- Wide range of leather options, colors and base/leg material
- Comes with a 30-day return policy if you’re not happy, and five-year warranty if you are
Cons
- Only available on Eternity Modern’s Canadian site
- Brand has kind of a “meh” reputation online
Specs:
- Price: $1,000
- Upholstery:
- Material Type: Choice of Top Grain, Aniline, Vintage Leather or Cowhide
- Colors Available: 2 available immediately; 10 made-to-order options
- Base/Legs:
- Material Type: 304 Grade stainless steel frame with chrome finish
- Colors Available: Rose gold or chrome
- Cushions Material: Dacron-wrapped foam with genuine down feather layer
- Warranty: 5-year warranty
Why We Like It:
Eternity Modern’s Barcelona reproduction has both more pros and more cons than the Sohnne model above, so let’s get into it.
Like the Sohnne chair, aesthetically this one’s basically a dead ringer for the original.
The curve of the frame is nearly identical to the iconic original, the tufted seat and back cushion boast the same leather buttons, and it’s all held in place by upholstery straps that give it that airy, ligthweight look.
And there’s arguably even more upside in terms of its components, because Eternity Modern lets you choose from a lot more options than Sohnne.
While the Sohnne model only has three color options, Eterinity Modern has a total of 12 – two that are availabel for order immediately, and 10 more that will be custom built when you place your order – across three different types of leather.
The price is about 50 bucks more Sohnne’s model, but considering the increased number of options available, that seems like a fair trade—at least at first glance.
Why Some Might Not:
While the Eternity Modern version has a lot going for it on paper (or on the screen of your device, as it were), there are some definite red flags here, too.
The first one is more odd than alarming. The chair linked above is actually on Eternity Modern’s Canadian website, not their American one.
I checked, and the Canadian website says it can ship to the U.S., so the chair is available in both countries, but I find it odd that it’s not on both websites.
But the bigger concern is with Eternity Modern’s online reputation. Whereas Sohnne has garnered good scores from Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau, Eternity Modern’s ratings are mediocre.
On Trustpilot they only have a 3.7 out of 5. On the Better Business Bureau’s website they’re not accredited, but have a B+ rating based on online reviews.
Neither score is awful, but they don’t inspire much confidence, either.
So, while their chair looks great, my sense is that it’s a bit of a toss up in terms of quality. If you’re dead set on a specific color, then it might be worth a try, especially since they have a 30-day return policy.
But if you’re happy with white, brown or black, I think that Sohnne is your safer bet.
Best “Almost-But-Not-Quite” Homage ↓
Alexuis Faux Leather Slipper Chair
Pros
- Much cheaper than the two models above
- Three colors available
- Good way to add a “Barcelona-style” chair to your room without breaking the bank
Cons
- Not a true replica – the base doesn’t have the same fluid, X-shaped design
- Cheaper price tag is possible because the materials are (much) lower quality than the two above
Specs:
- Price: $309
- Upholstery:
- Material Type: Faux Leather
- Colors Available: 3
- Base/Legs:
- Material Type: Chrome
- Colors Available: 1
- Cushions Material: Foam
- Warranty: 6 months
Why We Like It:
I’ll get to the pros of this one in a second, but first let’s address the elephant in the room:
After the first two entries above, there’s a significant drop off in terms of fidelity to the original design.
Other than some random chairs with no reviews, which I’m not comfortable recommending, I actually couldn’t find another option that has the same fluid, X-shaped legs as the original.
But I did find this one on Wayfair, which is an obvious knockoff “homage” to the original that has a lot of similar elements, if not the same flair for design.
It’s available in three colors and comes in at a much lower price point than the two models above, which is nice for those on a limited budget.
I thought it was worth including because not everyone has a 1,000 bucks to spend on a single chair, and this is a decent, affordable option if you’re looking for a chair that strikes a lot of the same notes as the Barcelona.
Why Some Might Not:
The cons here are fairly obvious.
As I mentioned, it’s not a pure Barcelona chair replica, and it doesn’t have the fluid design that makes the original (and the two replicas above) stand out.
Secondly, while the low price tag is nice for those who want a cheaper option, the trade off is in the quality of the materials.
This one is made of faux leather and there’s not much information given about its cushions, other than the fact that they’re filled with foam.
So it’s likely not as comfortable or as durable as the two models above, meaning you’re not just sacrificing some design flair in exchange for the lower price tag, but also some significantly quality.
Next:
Other Similar But Not Quite the Same Barcelona Chair Alternatives
Like the Alexius chair above, each of the models below have designs that vary from the original in fairly obvious ways, so they’re not true replicas.
But since I was only able to find a couple faithful reproductions, I thought they were worth including in case you’re looking for more of a Barcelona-style chair that has some similar, if not precisely the same, design elements.
I didn’t do the pros and cons charts for these ones because they’d all be basically the same:
The cons here are that none of these chair truly mimic the original, and most are made from cheaper materials than the two “pure” replicas above.
But the pros are that they provide an ever wider range of price points, color options, sizes and designs than the three models above, so they might be worth a look.
Studio Designs Newel Accent Chair
Specs:
- Price: $272
- Upholstery:
- Material Type: Bonded leather
- Colors Available: 2
- Frame:
- Material Type: Chrome
- Colors Available: 1
- Cushions Material: Foam
- Warranty: Not specified
Kardiel Lawson Leather Chair
Specs:
- Price: $699
- Upholstery:
- Material Type: 2 options – Polyester and Leather
- Colors Available: 3
- Frame:
- Material Type: Steel
- Colors Available: 2
- Cushions Material: Foam
- Warranty: 3 years
Vanwyk Faux Leather Accent Chair
Specs:
- Price: $329
- Upholstery:
- Material Type: Faux Leather
- Colors Available: 4
- Base/Legs:
- Material Type: Chrome
- Colors Available: 2
- Cushions Material: Foam
- Warranty: Not specified
Dorulet Faux Leather Accent Chair with Ottoman
Specs:
- Price: $146
- Upholstery:
- Material Type: Faux Leather
- Colors Available: 3
- Base/Legs:
- Material Type: “Metal”
- Colors Available: 1
- Cushions Material: Foam
- Warranty: 30 days
The Recap ↓
Summary
The three main criteria we used to assess each chair were their fidelity/similarity to the 1929 original, the quality of their materials, and the reputation of the brand who makes/sells each chair, all of which we compared to their price tag to assess their overall value.
The first two examples above are faithful replicas made from high-quality materials, while the third is a cheap alternative that’s similar, but not quite as sleek.
More Resources ↓
More Advice on Where to Buy Replica Designer Furniture:
- The Best Eero Saarinen Tulip Table Replicas
- The 5 Best Womb Chair Replicas
- Where to Buy Charles & Ray Eames Lounge Chair Replicas
- In-Depth of Sohnne Eames Lounge Chair Review
- Where to Buy Good Replica Swan Chairs like Arne Jacobsen’s Original
- The Best Mario Bellini Modular Couch Replicas
- The 9 Best Marcel Breuer Cesca Chair Replicas
- Where to Buy Good Hans Wegner Shell Chair Replicas
- The Best Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair Replicas on the Market
Photo: Sohnne
Illustration: Irreverent Gent
