Maker&Son, the company dedicated to creating sofas that last a lifetime, is hitting the road with mobile showrooms across the U.S.
Allow the Song range love seat sofa outfitted in blue corduroy to transport you to the English countryside.
Born in West Sussex, England, Maker&Son is dedicated to comfort and creating heirloom furniture pieces that last more than one generation. The story begins in 2018 when Alex Willcock wanted a change. With a multitude of passions—making things by hand, being innovative and sharing his vision with others—he wanted to channel those into something tangible. In partnership with his son, Felix Conran, a talented product designer and grandson of the late Sir Terence Conran, Maker&Son was born—their first product, a luxury sofa handmade with 100% natural and ethically sourced materials. The pair first launched in Australia, simply because the Aussies understood and loved their concept of creating a timeless range of furniture with absolutely no compromise. Since then, the company has expanded to the U.K., New Zealand, Ireland and the U.S., garnering a 300% increase in sales year over year. “All of our furniture is built to the same standards of quality as antique furniture,” says Conran. “I like to think that our pieces are the antiques of the future. I would love to discover one in 50 years’ time in an antique shop—it would have a few stories to tell by that point.”
Fundamental to their philosophy is the ethical sourcing of their materials, which proved to be quite a challenge. “Plastic had become so integrated into upholstery as a material, it made finding natural alternatives difficult,” says Conran. “We had to go right back to basics, and we ended up discovering—well, rediscovering—all the materials used to make upholstered furniture before plastic was invented.”
Unlike the typical showroom experience, Maker&Son’s mobile showrooms offer the client a chance to experience the product on their own terms, even providing the opportunity to bring different fabrics and colors into their own homes.
Maker&Son’s debut range, Song, named after Willcock’s daughter, has been dubbed “the most comfortable furniture in the world” and includes sofas, armchairs, footstools and beds. Now, the brand has two more additional ranges: Marnie, featuring piped edge and contrasting piped edge options, and Otter, featuring box edges and soft edges. Each piece has a strong, mattress-quality base with individually coiled springs, down, feather and all-natural latex memory foam core cushions, and a removable, machine-washable cover in 100% linen, linen/cotton blend, corduroy or velvet.
Founders Alex Willcock and Felix Conran.
As a family business, customer service and satisfaction are of paramount importance, and while Maker&Son’s online platform had proven successful, Willcock and Conran felt they needed to establish a personal, human connection with their clients. So, mobile showrooms were born—vans outfitted and transformed into living rooms, featuring Maker&Son sofas in situ, as well as the multitude of color and fabric options from which to choose. In addition to roaming mobile showrooms, the brand’s permanent locations include their first U.S. showroom in Tribeca, N.Y.; select ambassador locations in Australia and New Zealand; as well as the family’s own 17th century home in West Sussex, which serves as the brand’s headquarters and is available by appointment.
Photography by: PHOTOS COURTESY OF MAKER&SON;
