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THE MAKING:
CRAFT, CULTURE AND THE SOUL OF A SOFA
Swan Lake, Carmen, La traviata and The Sleeping Beauty. These are not literal translations, but imaginative responses. Feathered chairs explore the duality of Swan
Lake. A frill-adorned red velvet sofa captures something of Carmen’ s heat and force. A white linen piece with camellia details reflects the emotional world of La traviata. An embellished chaise carries the enchantment of The Sleeping Beauty.
Sofas & Stuff’ s partnership with the Royal Ballet and Opera reveals a shared belief in artistry, individuality and the enduring value of the maker’ s hand.
For Sofas & Stuff, furniture has never been simply a question of shape, fabric and function. At its best, a sofa carries something of the people who choose it, the hands that make it, and the life that will unfold around it. This belief sits at the heart of The
Making, the first campaign created as part of the brand’ s new partnership with the Royal Ballet and Opera.
The collaboration brings together two worlds that may seem distinct: the theatre of ballet and opera, and the intimacy of furniture made for the home. Look closer, and the connection becomes clear. Both depend on imagination, discipline, specialist skills and many hands working towards a single moment. Both understand that excellence is never accidental.
For Andrew Cussins, Founder and Design Director of Sofas & Stuff, supporting the arts is part of the company’ s identity. Opera and ballet weave together music, performance, costume, set design and storytelling; furniture making has its own choreography of skills, from frame builder and pattern cutter to sewer, upholsterer and finisher.
With The Making, Sofas & Stuff has worked with consulting costume designer Hannah Edwards to create four one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by much-loved stories from Royal Ballet and Opera productions:
What the pieces reveal is the breadth of creativity within Sofas & Stuff itself. Fabric, colour, texture and detail are not finishing touches. They are how a piece begins to take on character, changing the mood of a sofa, the feeling of a room and the way a home reflects the person who lives there.
That idea is central to the Sofas & Stuff way of working. Every made-toorder sofa begins with conversation and choice, then is made by hand in the company’ s Preston workshop, where years of specialist knowledge sit behind every cut, seam and adjustment.
Pieces from The Making will be shown during the campaign in Sofas & Stuff’ s London showrooms in Chelsea, Islington and Richmond, inviting visitors to see the detail and craftsmanship up close. Ultimately, The Making shows what Sofas & Stuff has always believed: that homes deserve individuality, craft carries feeling, and the most meaningful objects are shaped by imagination, care and human touch. www. sofasandstuff. com Instagram @ sofasandstuff | LinkedIn @ sofas-and-stuff