The saga of the ‘shrinkable sofa’ reveals an unfortunate truth about the furniture industry

An an industry notorious for chasing trends, true innovation is hard to come by.

As I write this, designerati have just finished their annual schmoozefest in Milan, where they traipsed the halls of the world’s most prestigious furniture fair. But while Salone del Mobile was in full swing, on the other side of the Atlantic a new kind of armchair was taking shape.

This armchair wasn’t dreamed up by a star designer, it isn’t made of white bouclé or velvet, and it isn’t launching on the world’s biggest podium. It is called the Shrinkable Sofa, and it’s a humble, modular piece of furniture that can transform itself, in a matter of seconds, from an armchair to a three-seat couch. Almost 10 years in the making, it was designed for a regular person with a regular job and a regular salary—and is launching on Kickstarter at the price of $1,499.

But this isn’t a story about the Shrinkable Sofa. It’s a story about a flawed furniture industry that prioritizes the bottom line over innovation, and about the invisible yet tangled logistical web that underpins the industry.