A tuxedo sofa pared back to its outline.

The Mayfair holds one level line from arm to arm across the back — the tuxedo silhouette — and then takes everything else away. No buttoning, no scroll, no skirt. What is left is proportion: slim arms, a tight back, and a seat deep enough to sink into.

The arms are narrow and squared, softened only where the inside edge meets your elbow. A double welt runs up the front of each arm and along the seat rail — two fine piped lines that trace the outline of the sofa and give a plain shape its tailoring. The back is upholstered tight, so the line from arm to arm never breaks. The outside arms and back are left plain and finished, so it can stand in the middle of a room as easily as against a wall.

Two loose seat cushions sit on a plain deck, 91 cm deep — deeper than most sofas, and deliberately so. It is a sofa for sitting back into rather than perching on, and the cushions turn and plump so they wear evenly over years instead of hollowing in one place. The frame is kiln-dried hardwood.

It stands on slim square-section metal legs, fixed to the underside by a flat bracket and set just in from the corners, so the body appears to hover above the floor. Matte black as photographed, or antique brass or brushed nickel. An Art Avenue plate is set into the outside arm.

Choose linen-cotton or velvet. The linen has a visible slub through the weave and softens with use, creasing lightly the way real linen does. The velvet has a short, dense pile that shifts tone as light crosses it and shades a little where people sit. Both are the character of the cloth rather than a fault in it. Twenty-seven colours across the two.

Four sizes, from a single armchair at 97 cm to a four seater at 234 cm, all built on the same 91 cm depth so they line up cleanly when combined in one room.

Construction

• Kiln-dried hardwood frame
• Tuxedo line — arms and back finish at one height
• Tight upholstered back, left plain
• Double welt piping to the arm fronts and seat rail
• Two loose seat cushions on a plain deck, reversible
• Plain outside arms and outside back — finished on every face
• Slim square-section metal legs in matte black, antique brass or brushed nickel
• Linen-cotton or velvet, twenty-seven colours across the two
• 97 / 157 / 208 / 234 cm W × 91 cm D × 76 cm H
• 1, 2, 3 and 4 seater — and made to your own measurements
• Crafted in 6–8 weeks