Leaf-shaped Gingko chair returns to London with just two parts

A chair first sketched in the early 2000s is back in London with a leaf for a seat.

Danish designers Anne-Mette Bartholin and Morten Ernst created the Gingko lounge chair for furniture brand Cozmo, and the company put it at the centre of its London Design Festival 2026 presentation. The show paired the chair with the designers' Squarish Table Collection. Dezeen

The name comes from the shape. The seat fans out like the leaf of the gingko tree.

The idea was simple on paper. Turn a flat, two-dimensional shape into a three-dimensional object with as little material as possible.

In practice, the chair comes down to two parts. There is a moulded plywood seat shell, which is plywood pressed into a curved shape, and a slim three-legged frame made from tubular steel. The shell comes in oak or walnut, with a loose upholstered cushion that lifts off easily.

It is built for everyday life. The chair is light to move and it stacks, which matters in small flats, cafes and crowded backstage rooms.

This is a return, not a debut. Bartholin and Ernst first designed the chair in the early 2000s for Danish manufacturer Weber Furniture. Cozmo describes the current version as reimagined with the designers and calls it its newest chair. Cozmo

London audiences can see it up close this festival season. The Gingko Lounge Chair was listed among the new launches at Soft Geometry at Wax 2026, alongside the Squarish Table Collection.

What makes this stand out for non-design fans is how readable it is. You can see the leaf. You can count the parts. And you can picture where it would fit at home.