Sabai expands product line with new chair

Direct-to-consumer site Sabai, which makes sofas from recycled, up-cycled and natural materials, is debuting its first chair this week on Sept. 22.

Company co-founder Phantila Phataraprasit said they designed the new Essential Chair to be pillowy and lush.

“The chair works for people to sit in, to lounge and read, and to cross their legs in but it could still fit in a smaller apartment or home,” she said. “We wanted to cultivate something universal that could accompany our sofa or other sofas, while still looking beautiful, elegant and a bit divergent from everything we’ve seen before.”

The company said they drew inspiration for the chair from the Alma Chair from Hawkins New York and the Paipai Chair from Ligne-Roset.

The team at Sabai uses customer feedback, often through Instagram polls, to influence product development.

“A chair was the most requested item from customers from day one. When we asked what customers would like next, 42.5% of customers said a chair,” Phataraprasit said. “As we’ve built trust with our customers as industry leaders in sustainability, we felt that we owed it to them to expand our products to give them more sustainable offerings they can trust.”

It took the Sabai team a lot of tinkering to develop the chair, but the team said they managed to create it at a price point that they are proud of, which continues to make the product accessible while using ethical manufacturing and sustainable sourcing.

The chair will be available in moss, indigo or seafoam recycled velvet made from 100% recycled water bottles as well as in oat or moon upcycled poly.

Both fabrics are inherently stain-resistant, according to the company, and they don’t have any off-gassing and are non-toxic.