Every so often a company produces a design so iconic that it comes to symbolize its entire history. For Studio 65, the Italian avant-garde design collective cofounded by Franco Audrito, Piero Gatti and others, this was the Bocca sofa — alternatively known as the “lips sofa,” “red lip sofa,” “Dalí sofa” or Marilyn sofa.”
Studio 65’s lip-shaped seat — modeled after a singular feature from Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí’s portrait of Mae West — became a design icon shortly after its release in 1970 and remains a beloved collector’s item today. The Bocca symbolizes Studio 65’s playful, subversive approach to design. The collective took shape in Turin in 1965 with the goal of avant-garde experimentation. The group would eventually grow to comprise artists, designers and poets, including Roberta Garosci, Enzo Bertone, Paolo Morello and Paolo Rondelli. It would also play a central role in the Italian Radical design movement, the practitioners of which found inspiration in Pop art, minimalism and Arte Povera.
The Bocca sofa was born of one of Audrito’s earliest commissions — to design a gym in Milan — which he accepted just a year after graduating from architecture school. The collective enlisted Italian manufacturer Gufram, a firm at the forefront of Italian Radical design, to create a bold red sofa in the shape of plump lips; it was dubbed Marilyn after Ms. Monroe and was an instant sensation when installed at the fitness center.
Studio 65 would follow this with the also iconic Capitello side chair (another Gufram collaboration, now in the permanent collection at The Met), whose reimagining of a decapitated marble classical architectural column in squishy foam was an on-the-nose expression of the group’s pushback to traditional design. It’s a nod they iterated with the Attica coffee table, whose form appears sliced from an oversize column.
Though Studio 65 still operates as an architecture studio under the leadership of Audrito today, the original collective broke up in the late 1970s, making its output from the past decade sought-after fodder for collectors of postmodern, Radical and Italian design.
Find Studio 65 chairs, sofas and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Red, by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence that it was photographed by important photographers such as David La Chapelle...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Cherry, by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence th...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Pumpkin, by Studio 65
By Gufram Furniture, Studio 65
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence th...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Yellow, by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence that it was photographed by important photographers such as David La Chapelle...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Midnight, by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence th...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Grass, by Studio 65
By Gufram Furniture, Studio 65
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence th...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Walnut, by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence that it was photographed by important photographers such as David La Chapelle...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Chocolate, by Studio 65
By Gufram Furniture, Studio 65
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence th...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Forest, by Studio 65
By Gufram Furniture, Studio 65
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence th...
Fabric, Upholstery
Gufram, Bocca Lip-Shaped Sofa, Apple, by Studio 65
By Studio 65, Gufram Furniture
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Bocca, the original 1970 lips-shaped couch is only Gufram’s. More than any other, this object of design represents the perfect abstraction of feminine beauty. It is no coincidence that it was photographed by important photographers such as David La Chapelle...
Fabric, Upholstery
Modernage Sofa
By Modernage Furniture Company
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Great Modernage Sofa,reupholstered in chenille fabric
Upholstery
George Nelson Marshmallow Sofa
By George Nelson
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
George Nelson Marshmallow sofa, model 5670 Manufactured by Herman Miller A great example of an iconic form.
Chrome, Stainless Steel, Steel
Vladimir Kagan Swan Back Sofa
By Vladimir Kagan
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Vladimir Kagan Swan back Sofa faux leather and steel
Upholstery
Vladimir Kagan Circular Free-Form Sofa, Model 150BS
By Kagan-Dreyfuss, Inc.
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Vladimir Kagan Free-Form Sofa- LARGE version, Model 150BS This is the premier sofa from his early Kagan-Dreyfuss period Original frame , upholstery and caster wheels. Large and comfo...
Upholstery
Wendell Castle Molar Group Settee
By Wendell Castle
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An authentic Molar Group settee This example has been Re-Gel Coated.
Fiberglass, Rubber
Vintage George Nelson Coconut Chair
By George Nelson
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
George Nelson Coconut Chair 1st series manufactured ,c. 1956 Original Orange Naugahyde Upholstery Original White Enameled Shell Foam is subtle ve...
Naugahyde
