The Tomato Chair is a sculptural fiberglass seat designed by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio. Its distinctive shape combines three circles into a single form: two serve as armrests and one stretches upward to create a comfortable backrest, all integrated into a basic seat. The result looks organic and playful, somewhat like a tomato sliced open, which gives the chair its name.
If you landed here searching for adaptive pediatric seating, you may be thinking of the Special Tomato Soft-Touch Sitter, a completely different product designed for children with positioning needs. Both are covered below.
Eero Aarnio’s Tomato Chair Design
Eero Aarnio is a Finnish interior designer known for pushing furniture into bold, rounded, almost toy-like territory. His most famous pieces, including the Ball Chair and Bubble Chair, treat seating as sculpture. The Tomato Chair fits squarely in that tradition. It’s a seat molded between three supporting spheres, where the circular forms do double duty as structure and comfort. The three circles cradle the person sitting in them, creating armrests and a backrest without any sharp edges or visible joints.
The chair is made from fiberglass, which is the same material Aarnio used across much of his furniture line. Fiberglass allows for smooth, seamless curves and a glossy finish that gives the Tomato its signature look. The material is also durable and lightweight, holding its shape over years of use while remaining easy to move around a room. The manufacturer historically associated with the Tomato Chair is Adelta, a company that has produced several of Aarnio’s designs.
What Makes It Stand Out
The Tomato Chair is geometrically symmetrical, meaning it looks the same from either side. That symmetry, combined with its rounded volume, makes it a statement piece rather than something that blends into a room. It reads more as art object than traditional furniture, which is exactly the point. Aarnio’s work consistently blurs the line between functional design and sculpture, and the Tomato is one of the clearest examples.
The fiberglass construction gives it a luxurious shine that catches light in a way fabric or wood furniture simply doesn’t. The smooth form has no seams, stitching, or visible fasteners. Everything flows from one curve to the next. This is a chair you’d place in a living room, studio, or lobby where you want a single piece to anchor the visual tone of the space.
Buying an Authentic Tomato Chair
Because the Tomato Chair is a recognized piece of designer furniture, reproductions and knockoffs are common. Authentic versions were manufactured by Adelta and are now produced under the Eero Aarnio Originals label. If you’re shopping for one, verifying the manufacturer is the most reliable way to confirm authenticity. Original pieces and authorized reproductions carry a significant price premium over generic copies, but they also use the correct fiberglass formulation and finishing process that define the chair’s look and durability.
Vintage Tomato Chairs from earlier production runs occasionally appear at design auctions and specialty furniture resellers. Condition matters, since fiberglass can develop hairline cracks or lose its gloss over decades, but well-maintained originals hold their value as collectible design objects.
The Special Tomato Sitter (Adaptive Seating)
A completely separate product also brings people to this search. The Special Tomato Soft-Touch Sitter is a pediatric adaptive seat designed for children who need extra postural support. It has nothing to do with Eero Aarnio’s furniture. Instead, it’s a medical positioning device made from a proprietary latex-free cushion material that is both waterproof and breathable.
The Soft-Touch Sitter comes in five sizes to accommodate children as they grow. The smallest (Size 1) has an inside seat width of 8 inches and an overall height of 25 inches, while the largest (Size 5) reaches 16 inches wide and 44 inches tall. Each size can be paired with different base options: a floor base that sits low to the ground, a stationary base that raises the seat to table height, or a mobile base with wheels for easier transport. The floor base positions the seat just 5 inches off the ground in the smallest size, making it stable and accessible for very young children. The mobile base raises that same size to about 12.5 inches.
The sitter can also be tilted on its base to adjust the child’s positioning angle, which changes the effective seat height slightly. For example, a Size 3 sitter on a stationary base sits at about 9.4 inches upright and 10 inches when tilted. Special Tomato also makes strollers, car seats, and other adapted equipment using the same cushion material, so families already familiar with one product often use others from the same line.
Which One Are You Looking For?
If you’re decorating a space and came across the Tomato Chair in a design catalog or on social media, you’re looking at Eero Aarnio’s fiberglass piece. Expect designer pricing, a bold visual statement, and a chair that works best as an accent piece rather than everyday seating.
If you’re a parent or caregiver researching positioning support for a child, the Special Tomato Soft-Touch Sitter is the product to explore. It’s a functional, medical-grade seat available through adaptive equipment suppliers, and it’s sized specifically for pediatric use across a wide growth range.