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Iconic, legendary, and unique are some of the words that define Michel Ducaroy’s Togo sofa, a symbol of design since the seventies. Its popularity has only grown over the years, winning over collectors and design lovers alike. Its permanence on the market for almost five decades is a true reflection of the unconditional love for this emblematic piece.

About Michel Ducaroy

The French artist Michel Ducaroy was born in 1925 into a family of designers. Not surprisingly, the young Michel decided to study sculpture at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, an institution that would greatly influence his work and form.

He worked in the family business for years until 1952, when he decided to change direction and start his career as an independent designer. Only two years later, Ducaroy met Jean Roset of the famous French furniture brand Ligne Roset and became head of the design department. With the emergence of new materials in the 1960s and 1970s, such as foam, thermoformed plastics, and wadding, he began to challenge the technological limits of the time and explore creations that had never been thought of before.

Thus, it was that before the ‘Togo’, Ducaroy had already produced other revolutionary designs, such as the ‘Adria’, the ‘Kandy’, and the ‘Salina’, not knowing that his next piece would become one of the most iconic of the 20th century.

 

1973: The Togo sofa was born.

The Togo was born from the mere observation of an everyday object, such as a tube of toothpaste. In Ducaroy’s own words, ‘his design was based on a toothpaste tube folded in on itself, resembling a chimney pipe, closed at both ends’.

The Togo is constructed from 3 different densities of foam and is made by hand from 8 different pieces of fabric. The leather finish is the most widespread version of this jewel of a buttoned silhouette, but there are 899 different colours of fabrics and leathers to choose from.

This piece, now considered a cult item, was presented at the Home Economics fair in 1973, where it was received with scepticism and criticism. Its appearance was compared to that of a ‘wrinkled newborn’ or the ‘wrinkles of a Shar-Pei dog’. ‘What was most shocking was that it had no basis,’ recalls Antoine Roset, now marketing director of Ligne Roset and great-great-grandson of the founder. ‘People thought we had forgotten about it or that we had not had time to build one.’ However, Ducaroy managed to inspire the fair organisers enough for them to award him the René Gabriel Prize for Innovative and Democratic Furniture.

Fifty years later, the Togo is still in production and is one of Ligne Roset’s flagship products. It is estimated that, to date, more than 1.2 million have been sold in 72 countries. Born of scepticism and formal transgression, the Togo proves that it is often the designs that dare to break the rules that define an era.