The story
Founded by D. J. De Pree in 1923, in Zeeland.1
Herman Miller was founded in 1905 as the Star Furniture Co. In 1919, it was renamed the Michigan Star Furniture Co. under then-president Dirk Jan DePree. DePree and his father-in-law, Herman Miller, (born Harm Mulder on 7 September 1867 in Hoogemeeden, Groningen, Netherlands) acquired most of the company's shares in 1923 and renamed it the Herman Miller Furniture Company.
With the coming of the Great Depression, the company faced bankruptcy until DePree met Gilbert Rohde, an up-and-coming modernist designer. Rohde convinced DePree that the furniture industry's focus on historical reproduction furniture in lieu of new designs was not only out of touch with the consumer, but fundamentally dishonest in the practices used to make furniture pieces appear older and of higher quality than they were. DePree acquired the rights to Rohde's modernist furniture designs in exchange for a three percent royalty on any furniture sold. In 1942, Miller officially joined the office furniture market under Rohde's supervision.
Rohde died in 1944 and was replaced by George Nelson in 1945. Over time, Nelson influenced Herman Miller through both his personal designs and the designers that he recruited, including Isamu Noguchi, Charles and Ray Eames, and textile designer Alexander Girard. This period saw Herman Miller produce some of the company's most recognizable products, including the Noguchi table, Eames Lounge Chair, Marshmallow sofa, Ball clock (actually produced by Howard Miller Clock Company), and the Sling sofa.
The company reformed as Herman Miller, Inc. in 1960.
In 1961, Herman Miller set up the Herman Miller Research Division, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This division developed the "Action Office" line in 1964 under the supervision of Robert Propst and with the design assistance of George Nelson's New York design studio. Though the initial line, known as "Action Office I", was not a success, it led Propst to develop the "Action Office II" line, which introduced the office cubicle.
In 1981, Herman Miller started to work with the Italian designer Clino Trini Castelli on the process of designing physical environments, a so-called Design Primario.
In 2010, the firm acquired Colebrook Bosson Saunders, a designer and manufacturer of ergonomic furniture.
The acquisition of Knoll by Herman Miller was announced in April 2021 in a $1.8 billion deal. The acquisition was closed on July 19, 2021, and the company was rebranded as MillerKnoll.
From Wikipedia’s article on Herman Miller, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.9