This Is One 1980s Trend Revival We Didn’t See Coming

We’re not sure if it’s a comfort thing or a style thing, and we’re not sure if it reminds anyone else of the La-Z-Boys of yore, but if you’ve been watching carefully the past few years, you may have noticed that furniture designers — most particularly when it comes to beds and sofas — have been embracing a very specific aesthetic with roots in the 1980s. We first noticed it last year, when we put together our Sight Unseen Yearbook and found ourselves especially drawn to the new collection of the Italian brand Baxter, and then we saw evidence of it in a bunch of other places: Leather furniture has gotten extremely puffy, complete with intentional puckers, furrows, and folds meant to suggest a more pleasant level of squish than the material typically affords. This development could not be more welcome, in our estimation — leather is infinitely easier to clean than most upholstery, so making it more comfortable while also giving it nostalgic throwback vibes is pretty much a win-win-win. We’ve collected a few of our favorite examples of puffy leather below, though we’re sure there are many more out there — and many more to come. Option sofa by Cierre 1972 (also pictured at the top of this post)
Option bed by Cierre 1972Bed by Faye Toogood for BirkenstockStrips sofa by Cini Boeri for ArflexMilano chair by Paola Navone for BaxterMilano sofa/lounge by Paola Navone for Baxter

Milano bed by Paola Navone for BaxterPuffy lounge chair by Faye Toogood for Hem (photo of Katty Scheibeck Studio by Ruben Ortiz) Block sofa by Sabine Marcelis for Natuzzi