These curated pieces are designed with a story in mind. From reinterpreting traditional forms to pushing contemporary aesthetics, each furnishing doubles as both a functional object and work of art.
Perron Pillo Sofa by Willo Perron
Willo Perron is known as a French-Canadian creative director and designer. I think of him as the guy Ye brought home to edit his closet. When I spoke with Willo it was the first thing I asked him about. “When I first met Kanye it was on a trip to Japan while he was shooting the ‘Stronger’ music video,” he says.
“When we got back I went to Kanye’s house, he told me to stake out everything I didn’t like. I was like, ‘Are you sure? Because you’re not going to like this,’” Willo told me. We chatted through the many high-profile musicians he’s worked with, including designing a sofa for Travis Scott that, after some iterations, became the Pillo Sofa for Knoll.
The brand told me the sofa was designed to be “sat in, not on,” and they were right. It’s very comfortable, I recommend it.
economic by Martin Grasser
Martin Grasser’s economic mirror is part of his Portraits series that combines Venetian glass and abstract color-blocked imagery from a type generator he created. Martin, who also designed the Twitter logo (now X), has been exploring generative art on the blockchain. His collaboration with the gallery TRAME uses algorithms to transform letterforms into colorful visual languages.
“This one says economic with the idea that you’re leaving the house, you’re contemplating yourself, you’re going off to work. Then all of a sudden it’s a different look in the mirror as you head out the door. We’re trying to load the image with the electricity that text can provide. A simple image with text adjacent to it becomes charged. It takes on a second, third, or fourth meaning,” Martin says.
The economic mirror encourages viewers to engage with the artwork, creating an interplay between text and reflection and transforming daily routines into moments of contemplation.
Pews by Studio Kër
Michael Bennett, a former NFL star and the creative force behind Studio Kër, has designed the Pews sofa—a piece informed by his time growing up in the church. “Pews is based on communal design. Growing up in the South, my grandfather was a preacher, my uncle was a preacher, everybody was a preacher. Church was a really big part of my life, and the closeness of Black bodies in churches was always something very sacred,” Michael says.
His journey from football to furniture design was driven by a desire to reconnect with his African roots and translate rich stories into tangible forms. Based in Hawaii, his work merges his Louisiana upbringing with Senegalese influences, creating pieces that are both artistic tributes and cultural conversations.
“When I was thinking about an object that fits in the living room, which is also sacred, I started thinking about those pews and what it means to be close to somebody you love,” he says. Crafted from soft leather and Angelin wood, this sofa combines the uniformity of church pews with padded sculptural elements.
The SOS Stool is a clever creation by designer Josh Owen originally created for a now-defunct Italian manufacturer in 2007. “Sometimes good ideas cease to be for no good reason,” Josh says. Heller stepped in and helped retool the piece, improving its texture and durability and increasing the amount of recycled material in its production. “Sometimes good things just need a second chance.”
The SOS Stool is featured in collections at the Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
A version of this article originally appeared in Sixtysix Issue 12.
