The world of the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) carries an extraordinary sense of occasion and heritage, from the grandeur of the House itself to the ambition of its productions and the calibre of talent it draws to the stage. The awe it inspires is well earned. What gives that awe its depth, though, is not only what appears on stage, but the human endeavour required to sustain it: the rehearsing and refining, the costume-making, maintenance and fitting, the prop and set-building that happen long before anything reaches the stage.
For all the difference in scale and in detail, this is where the connection with our own world comes into focus. At Sofas & Stuff too, a finished piece of furniture also depends on what happens before: the frame design and build, the cut and fit of the fabric, the adjustments made along the way. The scale is more modest, but the principle is familiar: what feels effortless in the end is rarely effortless in the making.
This idea sits at the heart of The Making, our first campaign in partnership with the RBO: the opening chapter in a new relationship shaped by a shared respect for craft.
For Andrew Cussins, Founder and Design Director here at Sofas & Stuff the partnership connects with a long-held belief that art and creativity belong in everyday life: not as something held at a distance, but as something that shapes taste, memory, mood and the choices people make for their homes. He has described the ambition behind The Making as a desire “to champion the makers, thinkers and performers whose passion transforms raw materials and creative vision into objects or a moment which endures.” That idea runs through the partnership: the finished piece or performance is only part of the story. What gives it depth is the imagination, skill and human effort behind it.
“To champion the makers, thinkers and performers whose passion transforms raw materials and creative vision into objects or a moment which endures.”
The four one-of-a-kind pieces created for The Making give that idea a highly imaginative form. Inspired by Swan Lake, Carmen, La traviata and The Sleeping Beauty, they are not retellings of those works, nor attempts to turn furniture into theatre. They are responses: shaped through frame, proportion, fabric and hand-finished detail, each drawing on a theme, character or feeling from the original work.
Developed with costume designer Hannah Edwards as embellishment consultant, the pieces draw on her understanding of fabric, character and movement. Through material, texture and detail, her work helped translate the spirit of each production into a form made for the home.
The pieces are theatrical in spirit, but they remain rooted in furniture making. The detail of an upholstered arm, the texture and colour of a chosen fabric, the way the silhouette holds space in a room - these are the things that shape mood and character. In doing so, the pieces point to something central to Sofas & Stuff: the belief that furniture can move beyond function and become a more personal expression of taste, feeling and imagination.
The same attention to detail has a powerful place at the RBO. Sophie Wybrew-Bond, Chief Commercial Officer, speaks about the care that sits behind performance: the specialist skills, the decisions made with purpose, and the details that may barely be visible from the auditorium but can still change how a performer feels inside a role.
This degree of care and consideration gives the work a longer life. Sophie speaks about the importance of longevity: productions at the RBO are built to return. Costumes are altered and repaired, some still in use date from the 1950s; sets and props are cared for and brought back into use. These core elements of productions are valued; some make their return decade after decade. At Sofas & Stuff, the form is different, but the belief is close: a sofa is made to be lived with for many years, not replaced lightly. For both of us, this is not throwaway culture.
To make in that way, specialist skills have to be valued. At the RBO, they are held in the departments and workshops that keep productions alive. In the costume department, not everything can be learned from a book; much is learned by watching, asking, correcting and making alongside people who understand the work from the inside.
The same respect for making belongs to the everyday work of Sofas & Stuff too. In our Preston workshop, a sofa moves through many skilled hands before it is complete, from development and frame-making to cutting, sewing, pre-upholstery and upholstery. For Steve Harrison, Head of Development, much of the work lies in what the customer may never see: refining the frame, fabric and fit so that a piece can be made beautifully, sit properly and last.
Jack Crosby, one of our pre-upholsterers, speaks about the pride of seeing a finished sofa and knowing someone will enjoy it for decades. For the customer, he says, understanding the work behind the piece creates “a deeper level of appreciation. There’s more soul.”
A performance can stay with you long after it ends: a feeling, a colour, a piece of music, a gesture. A handcrafted piece also gathers meaning slowly, through use and time. It holds something of the choices and care that shaped it and becomes part of the life around it.
As the first campaign in a new partnership, The Making opens a conversation we want to keep returning to. It invites us to look beyond the finished moment and notice the people, skills and ideas that bring it into being. That is where the partnership feels most alive: in the shared belief that creativity should be valued and enjoyed, and that excellence depends on time, skill and human effort
To celebrate our partnership with the RBO, we have created a limited edition postcard set. Find out more and request your keepsake from The Making.
