Corduroy sofas and armchairs are back in fashion, and it may make you feel like you're on a 1970s television show.
Enjoy it. The current models, all boxy shapes and wide armrests, are inviting you to sit on them, lie back and relax.
Why does corduroy furniture seem so timelessly cosy? “It’s mainly the distinctive feel created by the cut pile fibres,” says Stefanie Trevisan, lecturer in textile technology and materials technology at the AMD Academy of Fashion & Design in Munich.
“Thanks to this special structure, corduroy has such a velvety, warm surface that conveys comfort and a pleasant cosiness.”
In other good news, corduroy is extremely hard-wearing, can withstand a fair bit of wear and tear and is easy to care for. “It’s easy to vacuum and clean, and if it’s of high quality – which is, of course, a prerequisite – then it hardly shows any creases,” says Trevisan.
That's another advantage of the fabric with its classic vertical ribs, known as “Velours Côtelé” in French, meaning ribbed velvet. “If it’s a natural-fibre corduroy, it has lovely breathability.”
No wonder corduroy not only “plays an incredibly important role at the moment, both in fashion and in interior design”, but also has a long and illustrious history, which dates back to Ancient Egypt.
Lows however emerged in the 80s and 90s, when interior designers opted for smooth surfaces and a minimalist look.
Corduroy was loved by the hippie movement in the 60s and 70s, and was enjoyed as people dug a laid-back, intellectual lifestyle. Trevisan says now it has “fully arrived in the mainstream” meaning our living rooms.
On our sofas or armchairs, it “adds texture to the interior design” says interior design consultant Angelika Hinz. She recommends using corduroy furniture as points of contrast, say with clean-lined pieces and smooth materials, leather stools or side tables made of powder-coated steel.
Corduroy furniture can bring warmth into a room, making it ideal for rooms with cool tiled floors. “That certainly does the room’s acoustics a favour too,” says Hinz.
Vintage charm
When it comes to colour, Hinz picks corduroy sofas and armchairs in warm neutral tones such as beige and sand. Or on pastel shades such as a soft rosé or mint green: “That actually looks very elegant with corduroy.”
Or to emphasize the fabric's vintage feel, choose furniture in rust orange or petrol blue, in mustard shades or moss green. You can then enhance the retro charm with velvet cushions or a cosy chunky-knit blanket, says Hinz.
Wallpaper with geometric patterns, good old-fashioned flokati, and lamps and tables made of smoked glass or with shiny metal legs are great further touches.
Buying cord
What should you look out for when it comes to the corduroy itself? First and foremost, the rib width. This determines the character of the corduroy. “Wide-rib corduroy has a very striking quality,” says Trevisan. “Whilst fine-rib corduroy looks almost refined and elegant thanks to its very narrow ribs, wide-rib corduroy is more distinctive, robust and has a touch of retro, lounge-style design.”
Your intended use also influences the choice of the ideal rib width. “For families, wide-ribbed corduroy would be more advisable, as it is more hard-wearing and easier to vacuum. Fine corduroy may look elegant, but it sometimes shows pressure marks more quickly,” Hinz says.
However, she says that fine cord, with its narrow longitudinal ribs, works well for households with cats. “The tighter the structure, the less appealing it is to cat claws.”
When it comes to durability, Trevisan recommends as with all upholstery fabrics that you check the Martindale rating of the corduroy. That indicates how robust the material is, expressed in abrasion cycles.
In the Martindale test, you rub the fabric repeatedly under standardized conditions. "The figure given represents the number of these abrasion cycles and thus provides a comparative value for the corduroy’s durability,” says Hinz.
Corduroy fabrics with around 15,000 to 25,000 abrasion cycles, also known as the Martindale rating, are considered well-suited for people's homes, she says. “And the higher this value is, the more robust the material is.”
