One conversation with the man the bedding industry has dubbed the “Wizard of Ahhs” is all it takes to be convinced that with his mattress-design expertise he can and will solve the greatest sleep discomfort.
“Mattress making is like cooking to taste: We have the idea and we make the first rendition and we keep remaking and tweaking it until it's perfect,” Earl S. Kluft, owner of the luxury bedding brand E.S. Kluft & Co., told FoxNews.com.
Priced at $33,000, Kluft’s Palais Royale bed, sold exclusively at Bloomingdale’s, is his hand-tailored take on the 1940s “Rolls Royce” of mattresses -- the “Aireloom.”
Bloomingdale’s wanted to develop an “ultra-premium bed” and tapped Kluft to design “a line that would accommodate their customers’ affluent lifestyles,” he said.
The Palais Royale features monogrammed handles and more than 10 lbs. of cashmere, mohair and Joma wool. Inside the mattress, layers of Talalay latex and certified organic cotton felt allow for airflow, while thousands of hand-sewn cotton-wrapped steel springs give it a strong support.
“This mattress is fabulous!” reads a costumer review by looking4comfort on Bloomingdales.com. Another customer, Balzacnyc, writes, “This is far and away the most comfortable mattress I’ve ever tried.”
With his mattresses he aims to merge exclusivity and accessibility. The goal is to get consumers hooked on the brand, so that they stay loyal and eventually graduate from the “entry-level” mattresses offered to the pricier models.
Kluft is a third-generation mattress maker. In 2004, he founded the company hoping to revitalize Aireloom luxury mattresses -- a beloved American mattress brand.
What distinguishes from other luxury mattress makers -- think Sealy Posturepedic, Shifman, Tempur-Pedic, Stearns & Foster -- is that it is a very basic design handcrafted with top quality products.
“It’s not designed in mass based on a single test,” Kluft said.
For those who can’t afford Kluft’s higher-end beds, there’s a new design, the “Aireloom Aspire,” which starts at $1,999, also at Bloomingdale’s. He compares it to Mercedes-Benz’s C Class.
The Aspire Collection will be available in three models. Each mattress is finished with a unique heavy-weight, double-knit cover, and features a stylish chenille fabric.
Kluft promises that once you try one of these beds, “you won’t want to sleep on anything else.”