Ligne Roset Celebrates the Togo Sofa’s 50th Anniversary

When you’ve been in the business of home design for as long as we have, you start to notice a few recurring characters that quietly and effortlessly steal the spotlight. Enter the low-slung, forward-thinking Togo sofa designed by Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset.

The all-foam cushion seating with no hard points is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and remains as polarizing and emblematic of modern design as ever.

"...a tube of toothpaste folded back on itself like a stovepipe and closed at both ends."

- Michel Ducaroy, designer of Togo

The Togo "seat-cushion" was first presented in Paris at the Salon des Arts Ménagers in 1973, and while its sunk-in form was met with its fair share of skeptical glances, the organizers awarded Ducaroy the René-Gabriel prize, which recognized "innovative and democratic furniture." To truly understand its spirit, one must take into account the larger intersection of design and culture in the 1960s and ‘70s: There were rapid changes in social attitudes alongside a rise in experimentation of all sorts, including with new materials like foams, quilting, and thermoformed plastics.