Steel furniture brand Steelotto has made its first foray into upholstered products with the Mello sofa, which plays with the textures of metal and fabric.

Mello contrasts folded planes of solid Australian steel with the soft and inviting nature of upholstery.

With its expertise in metal, Melbourne-based Steelotto gave attention to the frame, an area of the sofa that is usually hidden, to create an atypical design.

"An inside-out approach to manufacturing exposes the voids in traditional sofa construction," the brand explained.

Mello is available upholstered in a range of Kvadrat and Febrik fabrics. The steel and aluminium frame can be ordered in matching colours to further put emphasise the interplay of textures.

The product comes fully flat-packed and is easy to assemble and disassemble, enabling repair and recycling. No glue is used in its construction.

Photography is by Tom Ross.