Herman Miller's new fiberglass chair  

Easy enough
to confirm!
http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/hermanmiller/english/about-us/press/...

I guess
They had enough of losing business to Modernica.
Now if only they could do something about those bases....

9 "vintage" colors?
So I suppose we will have to wait to find out which colors have been selected...
I wonder if they will go with a truly authentic and vintage color range, or if there will be "updated" versions of the vintage colors?
Also, which "Seafoam Green" would they choose? There were several variations.
And will the new chairs have any of the same subtle variations in color lots that the originals have? Not all the variations in color were due to just fading and aging.
The originals have an almost artesian playfulness with the different color batches, and it will be interesting to see if the chosen vintage colors continue to have that kind of idiosyncrasy.
Does anyone know the colors that have been selected for the big re-do?

herman miller has shared one...
herman miller has shared one pic on their facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=545019848874110&set=a.18030975867...
hope they do some of the more subtle vintage colours too.

From the HM link...
"Herman Miller has also reformulated the color pigments to faithfully reproduce vintage color options while meeting the company?s own demanding Design for the Environment standards."

Meh
These new chairs aren't that great. Part of why I love the originals is because of the rich character that they've gained over the years. It will be interesting to see how these new ones will age. I feel like these still lack a lot of the depth that the originals had. It will be interesting to see what happens to the antique shell chair market with the introduction of these new ones.

and not just the colors...
..but likely they won't be as faithful when it comes to the translucency of the early Zenith shells. See through gold la-may? I doubt it.

Just a guess...
But the later productions showed very little fiber content. My suspicion is that these will show even less.

Ain't nothing like the real thing.

and furthermore...
.. the stance on the new blue shell's base (in wooden's first post at top of thread) is way to wide. So why can't people just copy correctly if they say they are gonna copy? That base looks downright silly.

From what I understand
It's some kind of safety requirement (not sure which one exactly) for the wider arm shells. Apparently, Modernica is still able to get away with the old designs.

thanks woody
Well these new chairs certainly are safe, and non-toxic. Perhaps they can sell them at Whole Foods.
Safety is a good thing, but "vintage" is not what comes to mind when I look at those chairs. I wonder if Modernica will keep making their version of the fiberglass chair, "old school" style?
These new ones might just make Modernica look good (for a change)
I'm trying to stay positive.

vintage is still vintage
i don't think the reason that people buy vintage shells is because they can't buy them in fiberglass from herman miller, they buy them because they are vintage (age, history, characters, charm, collectible, value etc.)
a brand new eames lounge chair or bertoia diamond chair from DWR would never possess the same character, charm, uniqueness and "value" as the vintage pieces do. the same situation would apply to the new herman miller fiberglass shells.
therefore, i don't expect the vintage shell market would be affected by the introduction of the new shells at all.
the folks who buy shells from modernica however might buy the shells from herman miller now.
i wonder if the new shells have shock mounts like the vintage ones...
fb

Yes indeed, Peggers...
Nothing like the real thing...