ROCHE BOBOIS

SOFAS AT ROCHE BOBOIS are very far from being mere objects to sit on.

- Judy Diamond

That’s not to suggest that comfort doesn’t matter – it does, of course. It’s just that if comfort is your only priority you’ll find what you’re looking for at more or less any furniture shop. If, on the other hand, you’d prefer the centrepiece of your living room to be a work of art, the French firm will be happy to oblige.

The same holds true for armchairs, dining tables, sideboards, rugs, lighting and cushions: every piece will be a supremely functional piece of premium quality furniture, but it will be more than that – a new shape or material, manufactured using cuttingedge techniques, designed by some of the biggest names in the business. This is furniture that makes a statement – whether playful, serious or challenging – that simply can’t be ignored.

This year marks six decades since two French families joined forces to import Scandinavian furniture to Paris. It was 1960 and France, much like Britain, couldn’t get enough of the Danish Modern style. Both families were already in the furniture business, trading as Au Beau Bois (which later became Bobois) and Roche, but their merger produced something much greater than the sum of their parts. They were soon commissioning their own designs as well as sourcing the most interesting furniture from across Europe and beyond to sell in their Paris showrooms.