I think a perfectly viable way to achieve the holes is just to delete the back polygons, and replace them with a separate object, which could then be subdivided as many times as you please in order to achieve the holes, if you wanted those kind of holes.  Then just "attach" the object as a sub-object to the main model.  This way, you aren't struggling to run tons of edge loops through the whole chair, and the only bit of geo that will end up being topologically dense is that back piece. (see attached image for rough example).

I actually did this for the top part of my ottoman model.  It's separate geometry from the rest of the object.  See it on TS, which has the wires, etc.:

http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-max-model-pouf-ottoman/735162

This allowed me to model in the buttons and creases, but keep the overall polygon count low.

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