De Sede

HEADQUARTERS.
“DS-88” Sofa. c. 1970.
Leather.
In good condition, with slight signs of wear consistent with its use.
Please refer to the images to verify the exact pieces included, their configuration, and condition.
Measurements: 95 x 95 cm (each module); 65 cm (seat height).
The DS-88 dates from the golden age of De Sede, a Swiss firm founded in 1965 and internationally recognized for transforming the tradition of artisanal upholstery into a new way of understanding contemporary furniture. During the 1970s, De Sede developed some of its most iconic designs, coinciding with a time when the living room ceased to be conceived as a rigid set of independent pieces of furniture and instead became a flexible, informal, and adaptable space. The modular sofa was the perfect response to this transformation: its various elements could be combined, separated, and rearranged according to the needs of the space and its users.
In the DS-88, this modular concept is combined with one of the most recognizable features of De Sede’s production: the generous use of leather. Far from hiding the seams and variations in the leather, the design makes them part of its identity. The result is a piece of furniture with a strong presence, in which material, structure, and function are closely intertwined.
De Sede’s history began in Switzerland in 1965, though its roots go back much further, to the artisanal tradition of upholstery and leather goods manufacturing. The company grew out of a former saddlery, and it is precisely this origin that explains the importance leather would come to hold in its identity. Its founder, Ernst Lüthy, sought to apply the artisanal expertise of leatherworking to contemporary furniture.