MILLER YEE FONG

Miller Yee Fong was born in Los Angeles, California, to Chinese immigrant parents Danny Ho Fong and Muey Fong. His parents established a furniture company in the 1950s called Tropi-Cal, which later became the Fong Brothers Company. Growing up in this creative environment, he eventually went on to pursue formal training in architecture and graduated from the University of Southern California School of Architecture in 1964. Shortly after graduating, Miller established his own architectural practice and also took on the role of principal designer at the family business. Working alongside his father, he was instrumental in redefining mid-century casual luxury and created some of the firm’s most iconic pieces, blending unconventional materials like rattan and wicker with modern elements such as steel, plastics, and finished wood. Many of these designs are celebrated in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Miller was in his twenties when he designed his most famous masterpiece, the Lotus Chair, as part of the Lotus Collection. The chair married modern, sculptural form with “rustic” hand-woven wicker over a sturdy wrought-iron frame. The Los Angeles Times famously described it as a “seductive well of comfort.” The chair was a centerpiece of the prestigious California Design 10 exhibition and remains in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Beyond furniture, Miller, as an architect, designed several notable mid-century residential homes in California.