The September Find · No. 001
Sale details in preparation
A rare Brazilian recliner that turns engineered comfort into a piece of sculpture.
The Lafer lineage
The Billie did not appear from nowhere. It belongs to a design lineage that began in a São Paulo storefront and spent decades asking how furniture could be lighter, smarter and more alive.
The house
Benjamin Lafer, a Polish immigrant to Brazil, opens Casa de Móveis Lafer with his wife, Cecília, in São Paulo. What begins as a family furniture business becomes the foundation for one of Brazil’s most inventive design stories.
The architect
After his father’s death, architecture graduate Percival Lafer joins the family firm. His early MP-1 armchair replaces conventional spring-heavy upholstery with a lean structure and layered foam—comfort rethought for modern production.
The Billie
Dealer archives place the Billie’s debut around 2002. Its curved metal arms, exposed structure, hidden footrest and deep recline turn the familiar lounger into something graphic, articulate and unmistakably Lafer.
Dates and individual design credit are being checked against surviving factory material. Where the archive is incomplete, this page says so.
São Paulo, 1927 → Westchester, today
A Polish immigrant’s furniture shop. An architect son pulled into the family trade. A Brazilian design house that made the mechanics of comfort worth looking at.
The designer story
Percival Lafer trained to shape buildings. A family loss changed his scale—from rooms to the bodies resting inside them.
Born in 1936 and educated in architecture at Mackenzie in São Paulo, Lafer entered the family business after his father died unexpectedly. He brought an architect’s eye to industrial furniture: structures were legible, materials behaved honestly and comfort was engineered rather than concealed.
His work helped define a distinctly Brazilian modernism—sensual, pragmatic and designed to be produced. Patents, demountable construction and export-minded manufacturing made the Lafer name travel far beyond Brazil.
Architecture, softened for the body.
Secondary-market sources widely credit the Billie to Percival Lafer, but listings disagree on its date and one misattributes it to company founder Benjamin Lafer. Until a factory catalog or label confirms the individual credit for this example, Westchester Rare Finds treats “Percival Lafer, c. 2002” as a provisional attribution—not a settled fact.
The object
Most recliners bury their mechanics inside a bulky shell. The Billie takes the opposite approach: a lean, arched metal frame suspends softly creased leather in full view. Its silhouette is part lounge chair, part machine-age drawing.
Archived dealer descriptions identify the model as Lafer’s Billie recliner, made in Brazil. The chair moves from an upright 90-degree seat toward a near-flat 170-degree position, with a footrest that appears only when needed. This example’s blue-gray leather and silver frame give the design a cool, almost cinematic presence.
The historical interest is not age alone. The Billie reads as a late distillation of the Lafer house philosophy: let structure become ornament, let movement become theater, and make serious comfort feel visually light.
The model identification is based on a visual match and archived product descriptions. Manufacturer labeling, mechanism and measurements will be shown in the final condition details before the sale opens.
The design archive
Archived examples reveal how dramatically color and recline change the Billie’s character. These photographs document the model—not the blue-gray chair offered in Drop 001.
Not the sale item
Not the sale item
Not the sale item
External photography is included in this private editorial draft for research and identification. Permission or licensed replacements should be secured before a public launch.
Published model specifications; this example will be measured before sale.
Private purchase opportunity
This piece will be available at the public asking price of $1,195, with serious private offers considered through the announced closing date. All offers and offer activity will remain confidential.
Purchase at the asking price or submit a serious private offer.
Buyer names, offer amounts and the number of offers received will not be published.
Review the full condition details, measurements and collection information when the sale opens.
Submit a private purchase proposal with your name, contact information, exact offer and collection plan.
The seller may accept, decline or counter based on price, payment readiness and collection arrangements.
The selected purchaser will receive a secure invoice and must complete payment within 24 hours. No buyer’s premium will be added.
Offers remain confidential and non-binding until accepted in writing. Availability is not guaranteed. Westchester Rare Finds may accept, decline or counter any offer, or withdraw the piece before acceptance.
The price guide
We show the reference points behind the asking price. Dealer listings are not the same as completed sales, and a price range is not an appraisal. Condition, color, provenance, location and delivery all affect what a buyer will pay.
Historical discontinued retail
$2,368–$2,658 Archived standard and FCF model pricingObserved dealer/listing context
$995–$1,500 Recent and archived public asking-price referencesPublic asking price
$1,195 A transparent price anchor, with serious private offers consideredDrop 001 · Private sale preview
Condition, measurements, sale dates and collection details will be released together.