David King’s journey from 1960s pop star to furniture mogul represents one of the most unconventional paths in design history. At age 16, King was part of the psych-pop band King Fox, whose 1969 hit “Unforgotten Dreams” became a Top 5 hit in Sydney, charting for over four months during Australia’s psychedelic music boom. After the band split, he shifted to furniture, beginning what would become King Living in 1977 alongside his mother, Gwen King, creating foam furniture at home and selling it at Sydney’s Paddy’s Markets.
Designer: King Living
King can trace the decades by the configuration of Australia’s living rooms, as he tells The Sydney Morning Herald’s Jessica Yun. The 1960s and ’70s were all modular furniture and “conversation pits.” During the recession of the early 1990s, Australians stayed indoors and preferred more traditional two-seaters and armchairs, with natural leather and adjustable backs dominating the market. Some things, though, never go out of fashion in King’s view: “Australians want comfort. You live your life on these things. You spend the best moments of your life on a sofa.” His philosophy cuts through industry complexity with startling clarity: “Why would you buy a bit of generic rubbish to spend the best hours of your life? I wouldn’t do it. So we just tried to make better and better furniture.”
Learning from Street-Side Failures to Inform Better Design
King’s unconventional design education began through direct observation of furniture failures rather than formal classroom training. Struck by the amount of broken, discarded furniture on Sydney’s streets, King used this as a learning tool to understand structural failures and design weaknesses. His early research included studying discarded furniture at second-hand stores and op-shops, analyzing why pieces failed and designing to avoid those common problems.
“The way we studied furniture was looking at what people were throwing away,” he explains to Jessica Yun. This investigative approach revealed consistent patterns of furniture failure that would fundamentally shape King Living’s product philosophy and innovative features. “Most furniture is timber frames. They break or they creak. The webbing goes saggy and the seats are soggy, or the fabric’s torn, and Mum and I wanted to make something that would last.”
This systematic analysis of failure points led directly to King Living’s engineering-focused innovations. The company’s designs specifically address the structural weaknesses King identified in conventional furniture, particularly problems with timber frames that crack and creak under normal use. Every piece now includes internal steel frames, modular systems, and removable covers, enabling updates over time rather than replacement. The luxury seat-suspension system, inspired by luxury car seats and protected by patent, forms the foundation of popular modular sofa ranges such as the Jasper and Delta.
Gwen King provided both practical partnership and the philosophical foundation that guides the company’s quality standards. “My mother always said, ‘If you want to do something, do it well first time.’ That’s how we’re set up,” King recalls. His father was a judge and his mother became his business partner in creating foam furniture from their home, contributing to King’s preferred leadership style that has always been gentle yet old fashioned. This mother-son partnership genuinely became the foundation for King Living’s later global success.
The Rolls-Royce Philosophy and Premium Positioning
King Living aspires to what King calls “the Rolls-Royce of furniture” – elite craftsmanship with industrial integrity rather than following fast design trends or decorative flourishes. The company’s success at the top end owes its continuity to outlasting Australian furniture brands that have faded into obscurity by focusing on delivering the best quality for customers who can afford premium pricing.
Priced about $6000 for a three-seater couch, most customers can’t buy a King Living sofa until their mid-30s, when they’re looking to “graduate” from their pre-loved, poorer-quality furniture that has started falling apart. King prioritizes furniture built to last decades, equating furniture to a life partner – something used daily and intimately that deserves significant investment.
“People always ask me if a lounge is expensive. But the issue is not whether it’s expensive, it’s value for money,” King explains to the Herald. Even for people who can afford King Living furniture, there’s a perception that “these sofas are out of the market,” but King prefers “to be on the side of the value for money, because that’s why people buy Kings.” The challenge becomes maintaining this premium positioning while appealing to broader markets: “They think it’s the Rolls-Royce of furniture, but how do you appeal to the younger market?”
The success of this approach is evident in King Living’s performance. The company generated approximately $343.5 million AUD in total revenue in 2024, demonstrating the viability of premium positioning in the furniture industry. This represents substantial growth from the humble beginnings of King and his mother creating and selling handmade foam furniture at weekend markets.
Vertical Integration and Strategic Global Expansion
King owns the entire process from design through manufacturing to retail, maintaining control that allows pursuit of technical details other companies skip. This vertically integrated approach supports the company’s commitment to quality without compromise. “We cannot make a product that isn’t brilliant, that people don’t love,” King emphasizes. “We never go into super luxury, quite expensive stuff, but people expect that of us.”
King Living now operates over 30 showrooms worldwide as of 2025, with locations spanning Australia, Singapore, Canada, the US, and the UK. The company identifies Britain, Canada and the US as priority markets, with Japan planned for 2026. The expansion represents a careful balance between growth ambitions and quality maintenance that reflects the “do it well first time” philosophy inherited from his mother.
The company’s slower approach to global rollout has largely met success, even in unexpected markets. You’ll find a King Living showroom in Calgary, Canada, where it doesn’t seem logical for its population of 1.7 million until you learn that a quarter of its population migrates south for six months yearly and people spend more time indoors in the northern hemisphere. King describes international expansion as “like playing a big game of chess,” requiring strategic positioning rather than rapid scaling.
Navigating global logistics and tariffs remains a constant challenge for bulky furniture products. During the pandemic, King Living pivoted to direct-to-consumer digital tools and video consultations, demonstrating adaptability while maintaining their quality-first approach. The company continues doubling down on North American growth, targeting major cities with design-focused showrooms.
Trusting Philosophy Over Market Research
The Singapore launch in 2015 demonstrates King’s willingness to trust core philosophy over conventional market research. King Living’s international market research found locals preferred European design and smaller furniture to fit smaller apartments, seemingly contradicting their Australian approach developed through decades of analyzing furniture failures and customer needs.
“It was very hard,” King admits about the Singapore launch to the Herald. “Anyway, we sold, and have sold, so much furniture in Singapore.” The success validated his belief that comfort needs transcend cultural boundaries. “Australians are great at relaxing,” he notes, but this appreciation proved to have broader international appeal than researchers predicted.
There were plenty of moments of doubt during international expansion, with openings in London and Vancouver being particularly challenging. “I always get that feeling: Have I done the wrong thing here? Is this wrong?” King admits about the psychological challenges of global business growth. However, the foundation built through systematic analysis of furniture failures and his mother’s practical wisdom provided stability during uncertain expansion periods.
The business continues expanding its range “without compromising” the standards that define the brand. There are currently two King Living stores in the US, with a new showroom in Los Angeles scheduled for opening as part of the strategic approach King describes in building a sustainable global presence.
Legacy-Minded Design Philosophy
King believes furniture isn’t about filling space but about shaping how people live, sit, sleep, work, and relate to their homes. The business has grown through product quality and word-of-mouth rather than flashy advertising, reflecting King’s minimal marketing approach and focus on substance over promotion – values instilled during those early days working alongside his mother at Paddy’s Markets.
King isn’t aiming for quick exits or IPOs but sees King Living as a multi-generational design house. This legacy mindset influences every decision, from the repairability of products to the careful selection of international markets based on cultural fit rather than purely demographic data. The approach honors the patient, quality-focused foundation established during his partnership with Gwen King in the company’s formative years.
His transition from teenage pop star to furniture innovator demonstrates how creative backgrounds can inform design thinking in unexpected ways. The performance experience from his King Fox days taught him about audience connection and delivering consistent quality under scrutiny – skills that translated directly to furniture design and customer relationships developed through direct market interaction.
Questions We’d Love to Explore with David King for our Yanko Design readers and aspiring designers:
Unconventional Design Education:
Your systematic analysis of discarded furniture at op-shops and on Sydney streets provided unique insights into failure patterns. How would you advise young designers to develop this investigative approach to understanding product weaknesses?
Mother-Son Partnership:
Your mother Gwen was your business partner from the Paddy’s Markets days and provided the ‘do it well first time’ philosophy. How did this family collaboration shape King Living’s approach to quality and customer relationships?
Design Philosophy:
You describe furniture as a ‘life partner’ and focus on pieces built to last decades. How does this long-term thinking inform your technical design decisions and engineering innovations?
Market Positioning:
You’ve successfully positioned King Living as the ‘Rolls-Royce of furniture’ while growing from weekend markets to global showrooms. What advice would you give designers about premium positioning without losing authenticity?
Manufacturing Strategy:
Your vertical integration approach is rare in furniture. How does controlling the entire process from design to retail impact your ability to address the structural failures you identified in conventional furniture?
Global Expansion:
Your Singapore success contradicted market research predictions. How do you balance cultural adaptation with maintaining the core quality principles developed through your street-side furniture analysis?
Sustainability:
Your focus on repairability and modular design addresses the throwaway furniture problems you observed. How do you see the furniture industry evolving toward more sustainable practices?
Legacy Building:
You’re building King Living as a multi-generational design house rather than seeking quick exits. What principles guide decisions when thinking in decades rather than quarters?
These insights reveal how unconventional education methods, family partnerships, and systematic problem analysis can create sustainable competitive advantages in mature industries.
Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, “King reigns supreme with upmarket furniture showroom growth plans” by Jessica Yun, July 18, 2025; The Sydney Morning Herald Business & Entrepreneurship, “‘You live your life on these things’: The King assembling the Rolls-Royce of furniture,” July 11, 2025; King Living company records and verified industry sources
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