Good as Gold: Design Mavericks Keep It Comfy

For a good chunk of its 17-year history, the Mitchell Gold brand flew under the radar, despite the fact that it was quietly revolutionizing the furniture industry.

The modern-looking chairs and sofas snapped up by customers of Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Williams Sonoma Home and Storehouse had no hang tags to identify their provenance: a factory in Taylorsville, N.C., where they were made.

What they share besides style is comfort in the spirit of "relaxed design," a philosophy co-founders Gold and Bob Williams espoused from the beginning.

First, there was seating clad in casual wearables, such as denim and khaki.

Washable slipcovers and distressed-leather club chairs, adapted from a vintage 1930s model that Gold and Williams found at a Paris flea market, followed.

There are chairs and a half, ottomans that double as tables, upholstered beds and a revival of sectionals scaled down for apartment living.