Royal College of Art graduate Oliver Stiff has created a series of sculptural furniture pieces that aim to "bring the language, attitude and materials of fashion design into furniture".

The London-based designer's recent works include the Hurmull Chair and Side Table set, alongside the Socialite Chair, which was made using deadstock fabrics donated by global fashion house Vivienne Westwood.

"Fashion understands how to create desire and identity through styling, image-making and storytelling. I think furniture can operate in that same way," Stiff told Dezeen.

"I use bodily reference, silhouette, material and the idea of dressing an object to create pieces that feel provocative and culturally charged, almost as though the furniture itself has a character."

The Hurmull Chair and Side Table were hand-crafted using recycled tubular steel that was welded into shape and covered using sustainably sourced leather offcuts.

Informed by corsetry, the leather was stretched and tensioned around the continuous stainless steel frames with laced detailing to mimic the function and aesthetic of the structured garment.

"I was looking closely at corsetry and the way a corset shapes and supports the body through tension," said Stiff. "The shape deliberately references the waist and hips, giving the chair an almost bodily silhouette."

"The Hurmull Side Table developed as a continuation of that same construction language, but in a much simpler form," he continued.

Meanwhile, the Socialite Chair combines FSC-certified birch plywood and recycled metal to form its curvaceous, low-seated frame.

Deadstock textiles sourced from designer Vivienne Westwood were used to create the patchwork upholstery and the chair was then styled alongside a model wearing garments from the fashion house's latest collection.

"I didn't know exactly what materials I would receive, so there was an element of designing with unpredictability," said Stiff. "The different fabrics, patterns and scales had to be composed across the chair almost like styling an outfit or constructing a patchwork garment."

"For the final imagery, Andreas Kronthaler provided garments from Vivienne Westwood's latest collection to style the shoot, allowing the fashion and the furniture to exist within the same visual world," he added.

The Socialite Chair was designed to question where value is placed on high-end fashion textiles once they are not associated with the industry. By repurposing surplus materials, Stiff hoped to show that the value of these materials extends beyond the original use.

"These are incredibly high quality materials – including Italian textiles from manufacturers such as Tessilbiella – yet an offcut can go from being considered luxury to waste simply because it is no longer required for production," said Stiff.

"It made me question what we actually define as waste and where the value of a luxury material really sits."

Stiff explained that while sustainability was central to his design process, he wanted to create pieces that still felt theatrical, glamorous and visually distinctive.

"I'm interested in challenging the idea that sustainable design has to have a particular aesthetic, that it needs to look recycled, modest and restrained in order to communicate that it is responsible," he said.

Stiff was awarded the Ultrafabrics Sustainable Design Award for forward-thinking creatives at this year's edition of New Designers held in London.

Other furniture pieces featured on Dezeen include IKEA's new collectible design objects and Waka Waka's colourful Ribbon furniture collection.