Ligne Roset was founded in France in 1860. Today the company can boast being the only dealer, manufacturer, and distributor of high-end French furniture, with two hundred single-brand showrooms and numerous retail stores worldwide. The furniture and accessories collections, lighting systems, carpets, and fabrics are set apart by their refined, rigorous, bold, and often-ironic shapes and patterns. Ligne Roset pursues its recognizable stylistic hallmark through collaborations with established and emerging designers. The brand promotes a holistic approach to sustainability in furniture design, the well-being of employees, and the use of low-impact and environmentally friendly production processes.
The Togo sofa and other Ligne Roset icons
Designed by Michel Ducaroy, the Togo sofa takes its inspiration from the shape of a rolled-up toothpaste tube and resembles a baby with the wrinkles of a shar-pei dog. The first time it was presented at the Salon des Arts ménagers at the Palais de la Défense in Paris, the Togo sofa was awarded the René-Gabriel prize intended for "innovative and democratic furniture" offering good value for money. It is a light, comfortable, and easily transportable piece - still considered the Ligne Roset sofa par excellence. After more than fifty years and more than a million pieces sold in seventy-two countries, this icon, with its unstructured shape, represents a contemporary and informal lifestyle; it is a hymn to leisure, renewed every year with new upholstery and reinterpretations, including a children's version. In 2020, Togo became a complete collection of polyurethane foam seating, with armchairs and two-seater sofas, reinterpreting Ducaroy's design with a new production process using recycled, recyclable, non-toxic, and low-emission materials. The Pumpkin armchair is yet another Ligne Roset piece that deserves a place of honor among the brand's most representative items. Designed by Pierre Paulin in 1971 for Claude and Georges Pompidou's private apartments, it was put into production in 2008.
Ligne Roset: history and designers
The history of Ligne Roset is that of a small company that became a multinational while remaining a family-run business. It was founded in Montagnieu in the French province of Ain by Antoine Roset and his son Emile, who had a small woodworking shop dedicated to the production of walking sticks, umbrellas, and chair frames. Jean Roset, Antoine's nephew, was instrumental in the company's development. After the war in 1950, he began to produce tables, chairs, and beds for schools, universities, hospitals, and retirement homes. Ten years later, with the creative explosion at the end of the '60s, the residential lines came to life. Ligne Roset became what it is today in 1973 when production was transferred to Briors (where it is still located); the Ligne Roset brand was made official, and Michel Ducaroy's Togo sofa was presented to the world.
In addition to the already-mentioned French designers, Michel Ducaroy and Pierre Paulin, the company's collaborations include award-winning names like Didier Gomez, Pascal Mourgue, Peter Maly, Inga Sempé, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, LucidiPevere, Pierre Charpin, and Philippe Nigro. They are joined by numerous up-and-comers, "It's in our DNA to work with young people," marketing director Antoine Roset said in a recent interview. "Especially newly graduated designers who are at the beginning of their careers. We believe in their spontaneous approach to design and appreciate their fresh creativity. We work with almost ten new designers every year either through a single contract or a five-year commitment."
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