Like many relics of the ‘it-girl industrial complex’, bouclé had its moment – and then had too many of them. For a while, you couldn’t scroll a designer’s feed or an influencer’s living room without spotting that nubby, cream-colored chair. But what was once a shorthand for cool in 2022 now screams the exact opposite. Design, like fashion, gets restless, and bouclé is definitely going out of style. And in 2025, as we collectively nurse a bouclé hangover, Oregon-based designer Molly Kidd has found the cure: shearling.
It’s the first thing you notice walking into her warm minimalist living room: a sculptural, toffee-toned shearling chair from Maiden Home. ‘Where bouclé can sometimes read as trend-driven or overly textural, shearling brings a deeper warmth – tactile and organic, but with a natural irregularity that feels less polished and more soulful,’ says Molly. It’s less influencer decor, more lived-in, natural, nonchalant.
Even so, shearling has big shoes to fill. For all the badmouthing bouclé gets now, it earned its mid-century moment – and, for a while, made the idea of staying home feel aspirational. But with many of us still working from the same living rooms we once ‘retreated’ to, the texture’s charm has cheapened.
Shearling, by contrast, feels richer, quieter, and somehow, even cozier. Bouclé is a woven fabric – wool or synthetic – known for its looped, nubby texture. Shearling is the real deal: the hide of a sheep or lamb, suede on one side, soft wool on the other. Even its humbler, more budget-conscious cousin, sherpa, delivers that fleece-like warmth – feeling, as one might imagine, like living inside of a very chic UGG boot.
Molly's one and only sherpa seat styling rule is let the texture do the talking. Pull everything else back. And for shopping, ‘Look for a silhouette with presence – something that could stand beautifully bare,’ she says. ‘The perfect accent chair should feel like it found you – a material you can’t stop touching, a shape that makes you pause.’
So stop – let’s talk chairs. Sculptural ones, à la Molly Kidd. Ahead, six shearling seats that scratch the same tactile itch as our once-beloved bouclé – and might just be the next cult object of 2026.
Keep it cozy at the table and live large in even the smallest space with Pottery Barn’s Pierre Chair. Its petite footprint and plush curves give off a Scandinavian charm that feels right at home in Molly’s world.
Wayfair may have sold out, but the source still has your back. TOV Furniture’s Kiki Armchair earns its five-star rating on that sinuous silhouette alone – a modern monochrome statement that hits a sweet spot. The way this seat’s moving, blink and it’ll be gone – so act fast.
A near dead ringer for real shearling, this super-soft fabric could’ve fooled us, especially in a stately silhouette like this one. It nods to the last era these textures had their moment (yes, pre-pandemic, they were a thing). One reviewer loved it so much they bought a second – not a bad sign – but take a cue from Molly: let it breathe, and it’ll quietly command.
For Molly, it’s silhouette first, shearling (or sherpa) second – and it’s hard to imagine a better shape than this softly cocooning Pallas Chair, with its rounded walnut corners and grounded sensibilities. Faux, hence the friendlier price, it comes in the lived-in Fawn hue or the slightly moodier, espresso-toned take shown here.
Part of the reason bouclé fell from grace is that its tiny loops started to feel like they were trying too hard. This vegan shearling chair does the opposite, low-slung and absolutely unbothered. Believe it or not, it’s even softer than it seems, with a pillowy cushion that makes it just as at home in a reading nook as it is in the living room come cooler months.
If you love the oversized drama of Molly’s shearling armchair but not the oversized footprint (or price tag), this Shea McGee–designed swivel chair for Target gets the mood right in sherpa. Same sculptural energy, scaled down, and set on a swivel – much to the delight of our inner 'Kidd.'
Shearling accent chairs fit another pillar of Molly Kidd’s living room philosophy: warm minimalism. Learn what it is, why it works, and how any one of the six chairs above might just help you perfect it.
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