Humanscale Reinvents An Icon—Again—With Freedom Ocean

Who says you can’t improve on a classic? Certainly not Humanscale. A pioneer in ergonomic design for more than 40 years, the furniture manufacturer expands its sustainable Ocean Collection with Freedom Ocean, a refreshed take on its iconic Freedom Chair, released this fall.

Designed by the late Niels Diffrient and introduced in 1999, the Freedom Chair is hailed as “the gold standard in office seating” and even earned a spot in the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. It was groundbreaking for its time, engineered to respond to the user rather than the other way around. Humanscale has now reimagined the iconic chair with Freedom Ocean, which is crafted from fishing nets and ocean plastics for a supremely eco-conscious update.

Made with up to 4.2 pounds of reclaimed fishing and boating gear sourced from the maritime industry, each Freedom Ocean chair underscores Humanscale’s commitment to sustainability and its goal of achieving a net-positive environmental impact. Living Product Challenge Certified, the office chair gives back more than it takes, as it is climate-, water-, and energy-positive. Produced in TRUE Zero Waste facilities, it is free from harmful chemicals, SCS Indoor Advantage Gold–certified for air quality, LBC Red List–approved, and BIFMA LEVEL 3–certified.

With its sustainable materials and signature form-meets-function appeal, Freedom Ocean proves that even a classic can evolve—and that after decades of designing for health, comfort, and productivity, Humanscale is still redefining comfort with a conscience.