Everyone at New York Loves This Sexy Sofa
Furniture people love American Leather. They love telling you its lore: The company was founded in 1990 by Texan engineers who realized that they could use a computer-operated tool called a CNC machine to cut down the time it takes to manufacture a sofa from weeks to days. The idea worked, and since then the company’s Dallas factory has churned out made-in-America sofas with some of the best craftsmanship I’ve seen in my time on the sofa beat. The brand is best known for its sleepers, which use a patented mechanism that is a different animal than the creaky model in your grandparents’ basement: smooth, silent, sleeps like a bed.
I recommend those, but their standard sofas haven’t landed on our Best in Class list. God doesn’t give with both hands, as the saying goes, and American Leather’s high level of craftsmanship is not always paired with inspiring design. If you’re spending more than $2,000 on a sofa, it should be beautiful — and while American Leather’s products are high quality, they too often reminded me of furniture you’d find at an airport hotel. Nothing wrong, per se, but missing the ease and warmth you want in a home.
Still, the production is so good that I’ve been checking back periodically on what’s new in the American Leather catalogue — which is how I found out that the brand broke its streak and made a sofa that looked cool, beautiful, comfy, well-made, and even — dare I say — sexy. It wasn’t available in showrooms nearby, so I asked the brand to ship a floor model to our office.
It’s very comfortable.
I’ve come across plenty of design-y couches that look soft but feel like rocks. The Brooklyn doesn’t just look like a big comfy couch — it is one. I spent a day inviting New York colleagues to sit down and tell me what they think. Their immediate reaction: “It’s comfortable.” Both of my bosses — New York deputy editor Alexis Swerdloff and Strategist lead editor Lauren Levy — love it. Strategist writer Bella Druckman, who is recovering from a herniated disc, says that it’s easy on her back: “solidly supportive without being stiff.” New York design editor Wendy Goodman agrees that it’s a good middle ground between too squishy and too firm.
My one gripe: I found the back cushion to be overstuffed, pushing shorter sitters forward. But that could be addressed by removing some fill. (When I opened the cushion up, I was impressed by what was inside: a curved piece of foam wrapped in a pillowlike cover, the fill separated into baffles to avoid clumping.) Fill can compress with use, so the overstuffing problem may also lessen with time.
I love the design.
This is a pretty perfect sofa. Every plane and corner is padded to create that flop-sofa vibe, but there’s also a high level of precision: sharp corners, tailored curves. The elevated base gives it an airier silhouette than most sofas this comfy. Flimsier bench cushions can pike upward with the weight of one sitter, but these are made of a foam responsive enough that the couch feels just as good with one person sitting on it as three. Curved arms are open and welcoming — everything about this couch is inviting you to sit on it, and you will be rewarded for taking it up on the offer.
The upholstery is customizable (and there are hundreds of options).
The model that arrived in our office came in a weird-but-cool combination of brown leather and a cotton-acrylic-linen blend meant to imitate mohair (it fooled me), but upholstery is custom. There are hundreds of options, from performance fabrics to stonewashed cotton. My preference would be something single tone and tweedy, but I asked the brand and you could mix and match cushion and frame upholstery in “virtually any combination” of fabrics in its catalogue.
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More sofas we love
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A well-made, firm-ish bench seat sofa from Quince.
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The Hay Mags sofa in discounted colorways originally destined for a WeWork (RIP).
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A flop sofa that comes in several sizes, from tiny loveseat to wide three-seater.
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