Färg & Blanche: masters of “Wood tailoring”

The creative and inventive duo Färg & Blanche launch Julius: a generous and inviting sofa and accompanying easy chair.

Julius is made using the revolutionary technique of “wood tailoring”. Färg & Blanche have invented and developed the “wood tailoring” concept, which means the furniture is sewn together. Färg & Blanche have previously sewn together the upholstery and padding, which proved very successful in Gärsnäs hits of recent years, namely the Emma easy chair and the Emily armchair. New this year is sewing through the wood. Färg & Blanche have further evolved the technique and Julius shows it is possible to construct furniture by sewing alone. Wood, padding and upholstery have been joined together by this pioneering technique.

Julius product description:
Fully upholstered sofa and easy chair, detailed with through-stitching in the back and seat. Optional veneers for the back plate, available in a variety of colours and stains; side-edges and legs in solid ash.

Färg & Blanche interview:

Explain the innovative technique of “wood tailoring” that you have pioneered?

“Wood tailoring” is a general term for a technique we’ve developed that means sewing into the wood. We’ve sewn wood on wood before, but with Julius, both the sofa and easy chair, we have sewn fabric and padding to the wood. Everything in these pieces of furniture, the wood, the padding and upholstery, is all sewn together.

What has been the inspiration for the generous shape of the sofa and easy chair?

The shape is a combination of the materials and the technique. The soft and organic comes from the curved shields that make up the back. The sewing, padding and fabric offer lovely appeal, while the underlying shell provides contrasting hardness. This shape is the result of intensive research aimed at developing a module that can be used for both the sofa and easy chair.

What are the advantages of “wood tailoring”?

Many. First and foremost, the conspicuous stitching provides a worked and tactile feeling. There are countless possibilities to alter the furniture’s expression. Partly through the choice of upholstery and partly depending on the chosen surface treatment of the wooden back plate, as well as varying the colour of the visible stitching. The technique is also suitable for mass production. And because the hard wooden shell is sewn together with the soft fabric front, using no glue at all, then it is easy to separate when it comes time to recycle.

What has been the greatest challenge?

Developing the technique to its utmost limit. It has taken us hundreds of hours sitting by the sewing machine to find the best solutions. It looks so easy, just needle and thread, but to achieve the ultimate method we really had to turn the technique inside out. It’s similar to making a mould: the process can be extremely long, but when it’s finally fixed, then most of the work is done.

Where does the name Julius come from?

Emma Marga Blanche:
Julius is an important name in my family. My great-great-grandfather Julius on my father’s mother’s side was an inventor and someone the entire family has proudly revered for generations. Julius seemed perfect for such an innovative product. Our thinking also led us to shields and we studied their appearance in various cultures. Traditional Roman shields, with straight parallel lines and rounded corners, were an obvious point of departure and even in this respect Julius is an appropriate name.

Test sit the Julius sofa and easy chair at the Gärsnäs stand A11:20, Stockholm Furniture Fair 9 – 13 February.

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