Why an Area Rug is the New Vans Half Cab

Bored with streetwear, hypebeasts are turning to furniture

This article was originally published on The Sociology of Business

The Louis Vuitton furniture section of the site is tastefully named the “art of living.” Art is the apt name since most pieces cost upward of $100K and resemble works of art that can be sat on.

In a slightly edgier scenario, Rick Owens launched a pop-up store at the Berlin cult store Andreas Murkudis in 2019 that combined his ready-to-wear and his furniture designs exclusive to Germany. Inspired by his partner Michèle Lamy (like most of his creations), Rick Owens furniture line comes across as a natural extension of the same aesthetic world that his apparel inhabits. GUCCI’s chairs and couches in their Wooster Street store are on offer along with the sunglasses, and a few years back Supreme adorned legendary Aalto’s Tank chair with “FCK.” Not to be outdone, Stamptd partnered around the same time with IKEA on organizational storage and furniture named SPÄNST that also includes hoodies, shirts, hats and basketball hoop sets.

The expansion of fashion and streetwear into furniture has years in the making. Experience economy propelled brands to create the all-encompassing aesthetic universes to put forward regardless of the category. A brand’s aesthetic world is its main product…