Six sightings of swollen seating at Milan design week

Designers including Patricia Urquiola, Faye Toogood and Misha Kahn looked to rolling hills and slabs of butter when creating these chubby seating projects, revealing a trend for the lumpy and chunky at this year's Milan design week.

Bread and Butter by Faye Toogood for Tacchini

British designer Faye Toogood was influenced by a slab of butter and a fat loaf of bread when designing her squishy sofa and accompanying console table for Italian brand Tacchini.

The sofa's shape was developed by sculpting pats of butter into maquettes, but ultimately crafted out of modular components upholstered in soft velvety fabric.

Similarly, the silhouette of the console table – finished in stained ash wood with maple inlays – was originally conceived by arranging real sourdough bread in thick-sliced piles.

Toogood crowned the ingredients "the building blocks of domestic happiness and health", and named the pieces in their honour.

Mole Eats Worm by Misha Kahn

A puzzle of amorphous forms makes up Mole Eats Worm, a sofa by American designer Misha Kahn composed of interlocking shapes he developed using virtual reality.

Kahn used large blocks of foam to create the shapes, which are supported by a steel structure and clad with blue, red and brown mohair. As Kahn's first sofa project, Mole Eats Worm follows the designer's various experimentations with the materials.

"As you unlock levels, at some point you get to start making soft seating," said Kahn.

Amina by Lara Bohinc

British designer Lara Bohinc looked to rolling hills and curvy lake shores when creating Amina, a handmade furniture collection that brings together a sofa and two chairs. Their curved silhouettes were conceived to echo undulating natural landscapes.

Designed in collaboration with French upholstery house Maison Phelippeau, the pieces are made from natural materials including horsehair and alpaca wool and bound together with Vanadium steel coils.

Bohinc is showing the works as part of Milan design week's annual Alcova exhibition, founded in 2018 by Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi.

Stockholm sofa by Ola Wihlborg for IKEA

Released as part of the 2025 edition of IKEA's longstanding Stockholm collection, this modular sofa was created by Swedish designer Ola Wihlborg after initially testing over 30 prototypes.

Born from Wihlborg's frustration with sofas that need consistent cushion-fluffing maintenance, the seating was designed to have generous proportions and "prioritises comfort without needing extra pillows".

"I wanted to create a high-quality sofa that maintains its shape and looks the same even after you stand up from sitting in it," he explained.

Lisse by Sabine Marcelis for La Cividina

Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis designed the Lisse seating collection to "capture fluidity and ergonomics in one continuous form".

Clad in recycled polyester with no visible seams, Lisse is characterised by oversized oval forms and marks the designer's first foray into sofas.

Lisse, named after the French word for "smooth", can be accompanied by various poufs to allow for flexible seating arrangements without the need for modules.

Gruuve by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso

Spanish designer and longtime Moroso collaborator Patricia Urquiola aimed to capture the "free-spirited essence of the 1970s" with Gruuve – a sofa defined by sinuous forms on display at the Salone Del Mobile furniture fair.

Finished in a retro-style colour palette, Gruuve is characterised by lumps and bumps that, according to Moroso, work together to "redefine the dialogue between body and object".

See our Milan design week 2025 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

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