The 8 Most Famous Design Sofas, from the Togo to the Camaleonda

The sofa is the biggest purchase in a living room and the piece of furniture where design shows most. Each of these eight invented something — the frameless foam, the endless module, the backrest that adjusts with a single gesture. All still exist, in reissue or vintage.

1. Togo — Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset, 1973

The sofa without a skeleton: three foam densities, a signature quilting, a seat almost at floor level. Fifty years of continuous production and a vintage value that never dips. See the original and its alternatives →

2. Camaleonda — Mario Bellini for B&B Italia, 1970

Tufted modules held together by cables and hooks, endlessly recomposable — hence the name, chameleon plus wave. Its return to production in 2020 revived the whole seventies wave. See the original and its alternatives →

3. Maralunga — Vico Magistretti for Cassina, 1973

Its genius lies in a bicycle hinge: the backrest lifts with a single gesture, turning the conversation sofa into a reading chair. Compasso d'Oro 1979, produced without interruption ever since. See the original and its alternatives →

4. Soriana — Afra & Tobia Scarpa for Cassina, 1969

An avalanche of cushions held by an exposed chromed clamp — comfort put on display, Compasso d'Oro 1970. The velvet originals of the seventies have been fought over at auction since its reissue. See the original and its alternatives →

5. Marshmallow — George Nelson, 1956

Eighteen round cushions floating on a steel frame: a pop sofa ten years before pop. A commercial failure on release, an absolute icon ever since. See the original and its alternatives →

6. Serpentone — Cini Boeri for Arflex, 1971

An endless sofa, sold by the metre, that snakes along the walls. The most radical idea on this list — and proof that a woman held the Milanese avant-garde. See the original and its alternatives →

7. Mah Jong — Hans Hopfer for Roche Bobois, 1971

Modular mattresses laid on the floor, stackable and combinable without rules. The most bohemian sofa in the corpus, since restyled by Missoni or Kenzo Takada on the fabric side. See the original and its alternatives →

8. Marenco — Mario Marenco for Arflex, 1970

Plump blocks threaded onto an invisible frame, a drawing of a single line. Long overlooked, it has become one of the most sought-after sofas in Italian vintage. See the original and its alternatives →

And if you spotted one in a photo?

Every piece on this list has its reference page on Beyit, with the original, its history and alternatives at every price. And if a piece of furniture intrigues you in a photo — an Instagram interior, a film, a period house — scan it: Beyit identifies it.