Luxury outdoor furniture earns its price in places a photo hides: the wood, the frame, the cushion and the care. This guide reads them on two Tribù collections.
Luxury outdoor furniture looks alike in a catalog photo. The difference shows after three summers: one chair has gone silver and stays sound, another has split at a joint or faded in patches. Tribù, the Belgian house the de Cock family has run since 1966, builds its catalog around materials that live outside all year. Two of its collections make a good lesson in reading quality: Vis à Vis by Piergiorgio Cazzaniga and Kos by Studio Segers.
Start with the wood
Teak carries its own oils, so a solid teak frame survives rain without a sealer. Left bare, it turns silver-grey through a first season outside. Oiled twice a year, it keeps the warm brown it ships in. Both paths give the wood the same life, and the choice comes down to the color you want to look at.
Kos puts that wood in plain view. Studio Segers cut it from broad teak slats, where most garden furniture uses thin battens. Broad boards put more wood under you and leave fewer gaps, so you stand up from a Kos lounge chair after an hour without slat marks on your legs. The gaps that remain still drain after a Florida storm. See the Kos collection.
Ask what else the frame does
Vis à Vis sits on a low teak base. The seat units stand on it, and the base runs on past the cushions as a flat surface. Set two modules with a stretch of base between them and the gap holds a tray, a lamp or a glass. You get a side table you did not have to buy. An organic corner module turns the run around a curve, which suits a pool with a rounded end. See the Vis à Vis collection.
Tables come in teak or travertine. Teak matches the base and weathers with it. Travertine brings an open-pored stone that stays cooler than teak in direct sun, and it wants spills wiped early.
In one drawing
Four layers of a Kos slat
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Weathered surface
The top fraction of a millimeter. It turns silver-grey in a first season outside and stops there.
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Teak grain
Broad slats cut so the grain runs the length of the seat, where the load sits.
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Natural oils
Teak makes its own water repellent, so the wood needs no sealer to survive rain.
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Solid heartwood
The dense core, where teak gets its weight and its resistance to rot.
Read the cushion, then the fabric
On Vis à Vis the 2026 update brings a fuller cushion with piping around its edge, and the piping holds the shape as a line. Ask which fabrics in the range are solution-dyed acrylic. In that construction the color runs through the fiber, so sun fades it at an even pace across the whole cushion.
Kos needs no cushion at all, since the slatted teak is the seat. That makes it the easier collection to leave out through a wet spring.
Count the pieces you need
A big catalog page can hide a thin collection. Count what the family covers before you fall for one chair. Kos has five pieces: an armchair and a dining table for meals, a bar chair for a counter-height island, and a lounge chair and lounger for the pool side. Vis à Vis has seven: the modular sofa, a lounger shown with wheels, a bench, a double daybed, and dining, low and coffee tables. Measure for the double daybed first. It takes two people lying down and it does not fold away.
Check the care before the price
Good furniture asks little of you. Kos wants soap, water and a brush, plus a light sanding if the grey goes patchy. Skip the pressure washer: it tears the soft grain out from between the harder rings and leaves the surface furry. Vis à Vis wants the same on its base, oil twice a year or none, and covers washed to the label.
To print
Six checks before you buy
| Check | Look for | On Vis à Vis | On Kos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Solid teak, heartwood | Teak base under the seating | Solid teak throughout |
| Frame | A frame that does a second job | Base runs past the seats as a surface | Broad slats carry the load |
| Tops | A surface that suits your sun | Teak or travertine | Slatted teak dining table |
| Cushions | Fabric with color in the fiber | Fuller piped cushion, 2026 update | None needed |
| Care | Soap, water, a soft brush | Oil the base twice a year or let it grey | Light sanding if the grey goes patchy |
| Samples | Teak and fabric in your own light | Teak, stone and fabric samples | Teak sample |
Ask for samples
A photograph flattens teak and stone. We send teak, rope and fabric samples free before anything goes into production. Put them on your terrace and look at them in the light they will live in.
Send us the size of your terrace and the pieces you have in mind through the form below. We reply with a layout from Vis à Vis or Kos, the finish options and a price for each piece. Tribù builds to order, and we confirm the lead time with the quote.
