Star Wars Fans: This Is the Furniture You’ve Been Waiting For
Let’s say you’re among the legions of Star Wars fans who are counting the days until this December, when the final chapter in the intergalactic saga—Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker—will be released in theaters. You’ve already made your way to California to visit the newly opened Galaxy’s Edge park at Disneyland, and you’ll be heading to Florida when the Walt Disney World version opens in August. And you’re obviously in the thick of planning your pre-release catch-up binge of the previous eight films. So only one question remains: Where will you be sitting as you watch these movies for hours on end? On your everyday sofa, or perhaps on something more suitable for the occasion?
To paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi: These are the chairs you’re looking for.
There’s never been a shortage of officially licensed Star Wars furniture on the market; most pieces, however, have been intended for kids’ rooms. But that changed in the fall of 2018, when designer Kenneth Cobonpue launched his own higher-end, higher-design Star Wars furniture collection, initially for sale only in Cobonpue’s native Philippines. Now these pieces are available for the first time in the United States, at select retailers and showrooms in 11 states across the country plus the District of Columbia. (Alas, online ordering is not yet an option.)
Cobonpue, whose furniture appears in hotels and restaurants around the world, is known for his use of natural materials such as rattan and wicker, the look of which inspired many of these new pieces (which in this case are composed mostly of polyethylene, nylon, steel, and aluminum). If you think this collection skews a little heavily toward the Dark Side, you’re not wrong. Armchairs in black and white are modeled after the Empire’s tenacious TIE fighters—you can practically hear their iconic fly-by sound when you lay eyes on them—and two other chairs invoke both Darth Vader and his master Darth Sidious, a.k.a. the evil Emperor Palpatine.
Representing the Rebellion are the Chewie Rocking Stool, which is of course an homage to the beloved Wookiee Chewbacca, right down to his signature bandolier. And last but not least is the lamp of Jedi warriors, all of them using their illuminated LED lightsabers to fight off a lone Sith lord in red. You have to like their chances—just as it is for this new furniture line, the Force is quite strong with them.
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