The future of the Italian-style sofa

Federica Biasi (1989) came up with the small Sophie sofa for Gallotti e Radice (2019), its generous proportions contained by the frame. It was an evolution of the armchair of the same name exhibited in the Paris edition of  Maison & Objet, in 2018, which saw the designer affirmed as one of the Italian Rising Talents. “I wanted to  showcase a new product,” she remembers. “But I didn’t have a company to back me: I took my self-produced Sophie armchair along, which Gallotti e Radice later asked me to industrialise. I produced a more sober version and then the small sofa, which is more representative of my own style” - soft shapes, elegant, natural finishes, a piece that slots easily into everyday living.” Sophie is covered in an orange bouclé fabric and has a 25mm metal frame with a galvanised finish. This is not the only upholstered piece taken on by the Milanese designer. She designed the Livre (2020) armchair, again for Gallotti e Radice, the Kokoro system of sofa room dividers (2020) for Manerba, and the modular Noa sofa for Novamobili. “They are all products with simple shapes, elegant and timeless, which draw on classism while retaining contemporary, more organic and voluminous forms,” she said. “I’m not interested in making a splash, it’s the details that render a product new.”