Vincent Van Duysen debuts living room furniture collection for Zara Home

In Living Neutral

While the clothing company Zara is best known for its chic and affordable garments, shoppers can now buy a whole designer living room alongside the summer’s trendiest styles.

(François Halard)

The homewares division of the Spanish apparel brand has just launched Zara Home + by Vincent Van Duysen, a full living room line in the Belgian designer and architect’s signature stripped-down style. With everything from couches and rugs to lamps and tchotchkes, all in neutral colorways, the stylish 19-piece collection can suit a new condo, a Cotswold cottage, or a 1950s split-level—wherever it lands, the furniture is meant to look sharp but blend into its surroundings.

A bouclé sofa in ecru is one of seven upholstery options for couches and sofas. (Frederik Vercruysse)

(Frederik Vercruysse)

The collection’s multiple seats more than fulfill the long-running joke that every architect designs a chair at some point. Although a sit test—the ultimate measure of comfort—was impossible, visually, the items seem to deliver on “the notion of comfort and utilization” that served as Van Duysen’s guiding design principle. The silhouettes of generously proportioned, stackable wood and webbed leather chairs, available in brown and black colorways, are complemented by a slightly overstuffed couch that echoes the massing of British sofas and armchairs, minus the fussy button-tufted backs and armrests of a Chesterfield sofa.

One of three iterations of the collection’s coffee table. (Frederik Vercruysse)

Side tables in oak and thermo treated ash are configurable with the Van Duysen’s chairs and sofas. (Frederik Vercruysse)

Living room seating is always a must, but chairs and couches look naked without coffee and side tables. The collection delivers on both fronts with an eye towards complementary pieces. The oak or heat-treated (Thermo) ash block side table and the cross side table can both be configured to position around Van Duysen’s sofas. The sectioned wood coffee tables, meanwhile, are somewhat boxy but seemingly executed to offset the fluffiness of the couches and armchairs.

To highlight the furniture’s versatility, couches, wood chairs, stools, desks, and other pieces from the collection were staged in a baroque mansion, a modernist home, and a romantic apartment. (François Halard)

(François Halard)

One might wonder about the durability of furniture from a company whose bread and butter is fast fashion. This collection is meant to be aesthetically pleasing through the ever accelerating trend cycle, or as a press release put it, “All products [are] a clear antidote to the one-time-use culture embraced for so long.” Though it’s hard to assess quality from photos alone, the collection’s versatility is undeniable. Images of the furniture staged both outdoors in a modernist home and inside a baroque mansion under an elaborate classical mural of scantily-clad celestial beings convey the furniture’s timelessness.

The collaboration went on sale June 30, but if you miss out on this round, fear not: Zara Home promises a new drop, HYPEBEAST style, twice a year. For this edition prices start at $299. The full collection of rugs, lights, tables, seating, and more can be viewed at zarahome.com.