Arflex: A Story of Innovation and Comfort
For almost eight decades, Arflex has helped shape the story of Italian furniture design. Founded in 1947, the company established a new approach to upholstered furniture through research into innovative materials, pioneering the use of foam rubber and elastic webbing to create lighter, more comfortable relaxed seating.
For the London Design Festival 2026, we bring together our most comprehensive showcase of Arflex to date. Presented on the first floor at Aram, the collection brings together celebrated designs from the manufacturer's history alongside its latest releases from Milan Design Week 2026, with many pieces being shown in the UK for the first time. The showcase offers an opportunity to trace the evolution of Arflex's design language across generations.
Having worked with Arflex since the 1990s, we have long appreciated the character of its designs. Each piece has a distinct personality, while their generous proportions and considered construction make them comfortable and adaptable within a range of interiors. An extensive choice of fabrics and colours allows the designs to be tailored to different spaces and settings, while retaining their individual character. This combination of personality, comfort and versatility has made Arflex a longstanding part of our collection.
Few furniture manufacturers began with a materials experiment. When Arflex was founded in Milan in 1947, its founders, engineers and executives from Pirelli, were investigating how newly developed foam rubber and elastic webbing could transform upholstered furniture. Working alongside the young architect Marco Zanuso, they challenged conventional methods of construction, replacing traditional upholstery with lighter, more comfortable forms that would influence the future of furniture design.
That spirit of experimentation has remained central to Arflex ever since. While the materials and designers have evolved, the ambition has stayed the same: to develop furniture that combines technical innovation with lasting comfort and exceptional craftsmanship. Today, every collection is still produced in Brianza, Italy, continuing a tradition of manufacturing that values quality, longevity and attention to detail. This approach has shaped many of the company's most enduring designs, several of which will feature in our Arflex showcase.
Many of Arflex's most celebrated designs emerged during the 1960s and 1970s, helping to establish the company's distinctive approach to upholstered furniture. Designed by Mario Marenco in 1970, the Marenco series is characterised by its substantial cushions, considered proportions and wide modularity. Composed of separate upholstered elements that can be arranged in different configurations, the series offers a high degree of flexibility while retaining its distinctive sculptural form, available in both sofa and armchair versions.
Also designed by Mario Marenco, Marius & Marius was originally introduced in 1970 and has since been reintroduced by Arflex. The collection's sofa and armchair are defined by their distinctive silhouette and generous seating, reflecting Marenco's interest in creating furniture that combines a strong visual presence with everyday comfort.
Created by Cini Boeri in 1968, Strips challenged conventional upholstery through its fully removable quilted cover, introducing a practical solution that made the sofa easier to maintain without compromising comfort or aesthetics. Awarded the Compasso d'Oro in 1979, it remains one of Arflex's most influential designs, recognised for both its technical ingenuity and lasting contribution to Italian design.
Whilst Arflex is recognised for its design classics, the company continues to collaborate with leading contemporary designers, expanding its collection with pieces that reflect changing ways of living while remaining rooted in the same principles of innovation, craftsmanship and comfort.
Making its UK debut in our London Design Festival showcase, Càmila, designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune, reimagines the modular sofa through a lighter, more architectural approach. Rather than relying on a heavy, monolithic form, the collection introduces a slimmer horizontal profile with both linear and gently angled modules, allowing compositions that feel both structured and adaptable.
The dining collection also reflects Arflex's continued exploration of materiality and construction. Designed by David Dolcini, the Antea dining chair combines a solid ash timber frame with generous, upholstered volumes, creating a dialogue between structural strength and softness. Alongside it, the Pair dining table reinterprets the traditional pedestal table by dividing its central support into two sculptural elements, introducing a simple yet distinctive structural gesture.
Designed by Jaime Hayon, the Treboli collection extends across shelving and coffee tables, introducing a family of versatile pieces intended to work together within contemporary interiors. Together with new finishes for the Botolo chair, updated Marea coffee tables and the latest Tokio sofa modules, these additions demonstrate how Arflex continues to refine and evolve its collection while remaining true to the values that have defined the company since 1947.
Opening Saturday 12 September: 10am – 6pm Monday – Saturday
