Design Classic: The Original Fatboy

Designer: Jukka Setälä, 1998

Details: Original stonewashed beanbag, £159.95, Fatboy (opens in new tab)

Take the ubiquitous beanbag, mass-produced since the Seventies, add the big beats of Fatboy Slim’s music and what do you get? An innovative, big-as-a-person Original Fatboy beanbag remixed for the 21st century, with just the right amount of cheek.

Rectangular, with a wipe-clean nylon cover and EPS filling (3,542,897 pearls to be exact) that moulds to the shape of your body, its Finnish designer Jukka Setälä playfully dubbed his creation ‘Fatboy’, writ large on a supersized red label, as a nod to the music he was listening to in 1998 while he designed it.

Dutch entrepreneur Alex Bergman immediately spotted the design’s potential and snapped up the rights. He produced Fatboy Original in a range of bold colours in 2002 and it quickly became the must-have lounge chair for modern spaces, from rooftop gardens to Silicon start-up offices – the perfect personal chill-out zone for lounge-lovers across the world.

Renowned for its durability, the nylon fabric of this beanbag is dirt and water repellent, and nearly indestructible. And with its fun and playful design, it’s no wonder more than one million Fatboy Originals have been sold worldwide.

From power naps to poolside hangouts, the Fatboy Original hit the spot, knocking up sales of more than a million since it launched and paving the way for a whole Fatboy family of similarly quirky products.

The very definition of living it large, this lounge hero and icon of modern living has come a long way, baby.

Now, can someone give us a hand up, please?

Photography: Simon Bevan