Marfa Stance was built on the belief that surplus materials are not something to conceal, but rather something to celebrate. Those familiar with the British label will instantly recognise its modular, fully reversible outerwear, which combines sophisticated patchwork construction with an approach informed by artist Donald Judd's functional design philosophy. Judd lived and worked in Marfa, Texas, from which the brand takes its name.
Crafted in Italy by female-led factories using surplus Japanese and Italian nylon, wool, and cashmere deadstock, the pieces are both utilitarian and luxurious.
This month, seven years after its founding, the brand unveils its first furniture collection, designed in collaboration with Stephen Kenn Studio. ‘We've never believed design should live within one category,’ says Marfa Stance’s founder, British designer Georgia Dant, who describes the move as the ‘logical next step'.
Furniture designer Stephen Kenn with pieces from the new collection
A meeting of minds
The choice of Los Angeles furniture designer Stephen Kenn as a collaborator was a natural one, she recalls: his studio had supplied the furniture for the brand’s first New York flagship a few years earlier. Like Marfa Stance, Kenn embraces reclaimed materials, celebrating their history, irregularities and inherent character rather than seeking uniformity.
‘The way we think about a piece of outerwear, how it's made, what happens to the materials, how long it can live, how it can change with its owner, is actually very close to how Stephen approaches furniture,’ says Dant, who founded the brand in 2019 after leading men’s and women’s design teams at Burberry and Rag & Bone. ‘We share a belief in utility, longevity, and making something beautiful from what's already around us. This collaboration lets us take that philosophy somewhere completely new.’
For Marfa Stance, Kenn has created a series of three steel-frame chairs and a bench, each with chunky seats upholstered using quilts made by Alabama’s Gee’s Bend quilters – a community of African American women based in a bend of the Alabama River in Wilcox County who have been making quilts for generations. Marfa Stance has been collaborating with the community since 2022, turning its deadstock fabric sourced from Italy, into a colourful quilted jackets and blankets.
‘When I first saw a Marfa Stance jacket I was transported back to some of my earliest days studying vintage military clothing,’ says Kenn. ‘The careful consideration and thoughtful details evoked an admiration and immediate kinship. I couldn’t help but wonder, if this jacket were a reversible slip cover, what would it look like?’
Kenn with upholstery samples in his workshop
The chairs are the answer to Kenn’s question. Each is upholstered in a Gee’s Bend quilt and installed at a different Marfa Stance store – Montecito, Chicago, Madison Avenue in NYC, and Chelsea in London – inviting customers to experience the collaboration first-hand.
The chairs are based on two of Kenn's existing designs – the Inheritance Collection – with its blackened steel frame and cotton webbing and leather belts holding loose chunky cushions – and the Ease Collection, with its curved upholstered form made from a combination of different foam densities providing both structure and softness.
Following their in-store debut, the chairs will be available to buy online, with prices on enquiry.
Due to the unique nature of the quilts, each chair is one of a kind and made to order in Los Angeles by Kenn’s small team and local vendors, many of them family-run businesses in East and South LA. They are designed to be repaired and adapted, acquiring character through continued use. Marfa Stance hints that more home pieces could follow. For now, the chairs demonstrate a clever and considered brand expansion that carries Marfa Stance's emphasis on adaptability, craftsmanship and longevity from wardrobe to home.
Stephen Kenn
