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Your Summer Has Been Missing This One Crucial Piece of Furniture

Dedon’s Mbrace collection reimagines the front-porch staple, a rocking chair, as a chic poolside amenity.  

Your Summer Has Been Missing This One Crucial Piece of Furniture
Umbrellas stand over lounge chairs next to the Caribbean Sea in the Hotel Zone of Cancun, Mexico. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- When you think of rocking chairs, you may conjure images of front porches or staid sitting rooms where white-haired ladies knit. But in designer Sebastian Herkner’s imagination, the seat should be planted luxuriously next to a pool. In a collection called Mbrace for the outdoor furniture brand Dedon, the company’s proprietary fiber is woven with multicolored strands by Filipino craftsmen and paired with a premium teak base. The result is an eye-catching $2,960 chair that has a textured, cocoonlike shape and a rocking range that’s just right.

THE COMPETITION

· Although not as famous as his No. 10 bistro chair, Michael Thonet’s original rocker, designed in the 1860s using a bentwood frame and cane seat, can still be found online for about $2,000.

· The $10,029 J.J. rocker from B&B Italia, by Italian legend Antonio Citterio, has a steel-rod base that supports a wooden frame and can be outfitted in Mongolian lamb fur.

· The Kennedy rocker was preferred by JFK after his physician prescribed one to help his back pain. The $489 version has been made by one company, P&P Chair Co., since 1926.

THE CASE

At more than 40 inches deep, 30 inches tall, and 42 inches wide, Dedon’s Mbrace rocker is an expansive, exceptionally comfortable chair. Its triaxial open weave creates a tactile, overlapping pattern that’s offered in four colors, including a rose-hued version called spice (pictured). It also comes with the option of adding a half-cushion (as shown, from $520) or a full one (from $1,090). Intended for outdoors, it’s suitable inside, too—and is equally cozy without the cushions. From $2,960 (chair), $990 (ottoman)

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at crovzar@bloomberg.net

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