Fatboy. Great Furniture Or This Decade's Bean Bag Chairs?

If you're not familiar with Fatboy, you either never shop for modern furniture, have never read an online design blog or you live under a rock.

Fatboy, which has a fabulous name and a logo eerily similar to Levis (the vertical red tag sewn onto the item) began with one item, appropriately named The Fatboy. Not unlike a bean bag chair from days gone past, this was a rectangular blob of sorts, foam filled and came in fun bright colors.

Okay, I got that. Great for kids' rooms, basements, the occasional "fun' office work environment for places like ad agencies and design firms that fancy themselves "hip". I even thought it was great fun that Marimekko got on board with their fabrics.

But somehow, it's blown up into a big ol' trend. They now make everything from Fatboy Junior to ottomans, pet beds, and have just introduced a rocking chair and a hammock.



Now people seem to be jumping on this foam-filled bandwagon like I can't believe. Am I missing something? Aren't these just large, fairly ugly, cheap-looking products? Or are they icons of design?




I do love both the pet beds for cats and dogs because they make wonderful sense. Comfortable, spongy and washable. But their products for humans are costly. These aren't sold for 45$ each like the old bean bag chairs of lore, but instead are hundreds of dollars.

Are they worth it? I can't help but feel like they'll appear in hundreds of homes and offices this year only to be seen left in back alleys near trash cans and crack houses five years from now, just like those bean bag chairs with little white styrofoam balls spilling out from the seams.

Call me a snob, but their newest items, the rocker and hammock just look ugly to me.

Will I be purchasing a fatboy? Fat chance. But what about you? What do you think?