One of the most characteristic pieces of furniture from the 70s was born in a small Swiss town and is currently conquering the planet again. For almost 60 years now, de Sede has been doing nothing but what it does best: designing and assembling special cowhide furniture with great care, which, thanks to their design and quality, become real status symbols. de Sede stood strictly by its environmental principles even when attention to this was far from being a topic of public discussion. First of all, the cowhide, which serves as the main raw material, is simply a by-product, a surplus of the meat industry. Secondly, they only make as much furniture as they can, they do not have huge stocks like other brands.
They don't manufacture sofas or armchairs on an assembly line, on a daily quota, but on individual orders. They have developed a business model that many more brands should use as a basis for their production – in an optimal world. But why would they abandon their standard furniture when the range of options is so wide? When choosing a de Sede piece of furniture – which can be done in Hungary at the MaxCity Lakberendezési Bevárolók Center, in the Bellamo Premium Comfort store, which exclusively distributes the brand – you can choose from many upholstery colors and several types of legs, and let's highlight that since many of their pieces are modular furniture, when ordering the elements, you can completely customize the end result. So it's understandable, right, why they don't produce for stock? It wouldn't make sense, that's not how they think about perfect furniture, it's as simple as that.
The triumph of furniture marked purely with numbers and codes
Ernst Lüthy opened his upholstery workshop in Klingnau, Switzerland, in 1962, where he and his team made custom leather furniture, using traditional craft techniques and manufacturing methods. Two years later, they participated in the IMM Cologne furniture exhibition and trade fair for the first time, which led to the family business being transformed into a joint-stock company in 1965, and the de Sede brand being established. In 1968, the company began to expand intensively on the international market by acquiring a strong player in each country. Their first truly special piece of furniture, the DS-Pt, was introduced in 1971: the sofa backrest was patterned with honeycomb-shaped stitches. Unlike other manufacturers, de Sede does not name its furniture; there are no well-known product names that everyone knows off the top of their head.
A modern marketer would say that this was a big mistake, but the company stands by it. In 1972, they reached a milestone that still affects the company today: they introduced the DS-600 model, a snake-like, modular sofa that could be built to any length using the elements. The shape revolutionized the way people thought about furniture in the 70s, so it's no wonder that it began to spread like wildfire in modern luxury apartments, and today this model is experiencing a renaissance again. Perhaps the brand is most identified with this design.
Boxing gloves and a star designer at de Sede
In 1974, another iconic piece was created: the armchair or modular sofa, originally Terrazza DS-25 (now DS-1025), looks as if you were sitting on a Southeast Asian mountain designed for terraced cultivation. The company was acquired by the PCW Group in 1984, and has since changed ownership several times; since 2013, de Sede AG has been part of DESEMA Holding AG. In 1986, the famous architect Santiago Calatrava created a special bench for the company, the DS-150. The company also has many surprising models, such as the folded DS-266 armchair, the DS-265 armchair with wool fur, the accordion-like DS-5050 pouf or the boxing glove-shaped DS-2878 chaise longue.
In 2017, the company sought new challenges and entered the fashion industry: they also came up with their first bag collection. There are five styles to choose from, all of which are characterized by being made of soft leather and paying attention to detail. As we have come to expect from their furniture.
