Friends & Founders Sofas

The founders of Kartell are Italian chemical engineer Giulio Castelli and his wife, Anna Ferrieri. Kartell began as an industrial design firm, producing useful items like ski racks for automobiles and laboratory equipment designed to replace breakable glass with sturdy plastic. Even as companies like Olivetti and Vespa made Italian design popular in the 1950s, typewriters and scooters were relatively costly. Castelli and Ferrieri wanted to provide Italian consumers with affordable, stylish goods. They launched a housewares division of Kartell in 1953, making lighting fixtures, kitchen tools and accessories from colorful molded plastic. Buoyed by its success in the home goods market, Kartell introduced its Habitat division in 1963. Castelli and Ferrieri sold Kartell to Claudio Luti, their son-in-law, in 1988, and since then, Luti has expanded the company’s roster of designers. Shop a collection of Kartell furniture on 1stDibs.

Consuelo Castiglioni is the founder of Marni. She started the label in 1994 despite having no formal training in fashion. The headquarters of her company is in Milan, Italy. On 1stDibs, you can shop a collection of Marni apparel and accessories.

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel is the founder of Chanel. She established her first shop in 1910 in Paris on rue Cambon, and her boutique drew the attention of the Parisian fashion elite, who popularized her wide-brimmed Chanel Modes hats. Coco opened a sportswear store in the Normandy resort town of Deauville, where she set the tone for her defining sense of style—traditionally masculine garments reimagined for feminine shapes, made from simple jersey fabric. Chanel would go on to become famous for introducing the first-ever handbag to feature a shoulder strap and the little black dress. On 1stDibs, shop a variety of Chanel apparel, bags and accessories.

The real founder of Versace was Gianni Versace. He was born in Calabria, Italy, in 1948. His mother was a successful dressmaker who employed more than 40 seamstresses. As a child, Gianni marveled at her workshop, which would become a university of sorts, where he learned the exceptional construction techniques that would be the foundation of his work. In 1972, at the age of 25, he moved to Milan to work in fashion. He launched his first collection and label in 1978, with his older brother Santo managing the business concerns. Soon, his sister Donatella joined the family venture, where she has had a creative role and managed enormously popular ready-to-wear lines such as Versus. On 1stDibs, find a collection of Versace apparel and accessories.

There was no single founder of Pop art, as many artists contributed to the development of the movement. Richard Hamilton’s 1956 collage Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? is widely believed to have kickstarted the unconventional new style. Although Hamilton and other British artists launched the movement, they were soon overshadowed by their American counterparts.

Pop art is perhaps most closely identified with American artist Andy Warhol, whose clever appropriation of motifs and images helped to transform the artistic style into a lifestyle. Roy Lichtenstein was another prominent American Pop artist. Much like Warhol, Lichtenstein drew his subjects from print media, particularly comic strips, producing paintings and sculptures characterized by primary colors, bold outlines and halftone dots, elements appropriated from commercial printing. On 1stDibs, shop a range of Pop art.