Bend Ethel Chair

Founded in 2010, Bend is a Los Angeles design and manufacturing company that designs functional products for the home and public spaces. They make furniture, lighting and other goods, with a commitment to being innovative and playful. At Bend, they look at how things are made and figure out how to make them better. The quality of their products is in the details; the inviting shapes, the sparks of color, the ease of assembly, even the packaging. Each element embodies Bend's drive for making unique products.

Bend furniture is comprised of intricate patterns of wire formed through a method of shaping by hand and spot welding, a process they refer to as 'bending.' Each bend is carefully made to achieve the utmost structural strength, while the angles of the back, the curvature of the seat and the distance between the wires are designed to promote comfort and utility.

Gaurav Nanda is a sculptor, designer, and entrepreneur. Growing up in Michigan, he found himself building, bending, and joining materials to give them new purpose. His early creative impulses included constructing human sculptures from wire, printing t-shirts using his homemade screen-printing machine, and throwing clay pots with vintage-modern composition.

After college, Gaurav worked as a sculptor in automobile design. The practice taught him the foundations of shape and line quality. He reveled in the work but entrepreneurship was in his blood. His parents imported goods from India before the mass market caught on, delivered VHS tapes before Netflix, and bought a belly-up newspaper, turning it into a multi-million dollar business. His sister received international attention for putting an alarm clock on wheels to make sure you get out of bed in the morning.

Driven by his passion for making functional yet sculptural objects, Gaurav pursued his vision for a new brand, which he called Bend. Bend looks at how things are made and figures out how to make them better. The quality of products is in the details; the inviting shapes, the sparks of color, the ease of assembly, even the packaging. Each element embodies Bend's drive for making iconic products.

Bend chairs are comprised of intricate patterns of wire formed through a method of shaping by hand and spot welding, a process referred to as 'bending.' Each bend is carefully made to achieve the utmost structural strength, while the angles of the back, the curvature of the seat and the distance between the wires are designed to promote comfort and utility.