We chose makers with real workshops and real archives, whose pieces hold value and mix with each other. The list runs from the Italian houses that define modern luxury furniture to the lighting studios and rug weavers that finish a room. Prices are for the named piece.
Furniture
B&B Italia
Mario Bellini’s 1970 modular sofa, reissued and everywhere for good reason: it makes a large room intimate and a small room generous.
Furniture
Cassina
The licensed home of Le Corbusier, Perriand, Mackintosh and Rietveld. Buy the LC4 or the Utrecht armchair and you own a piece of the canon.
Furniture
Minotti
The Italian family house that defines contemporary luxury seating: deep, tailored, made to be sat in for an evening.
Furniture
Flexform
Antonio Citterio’s low, loose sofa is the piece interior designers specify when the client says comfortable and does not want to say more.
Furniture
Carl Hansen & Søn
Hans Wegner’s 1949 chair, still made by hand in Denmark with a paper-cord seat. The dining chair that works with every table ever made.
Lighting
Flos
The Castiglioni brothers’ marble-based arc from 1962 lights a sofa from above without a ceiling point. The most useful lamp ever designed.
Lighting
Apparatus
New York’s studio of brass, porcelain and glass makes the fixtures that finish the best contemporary interiors. Collected as much as installed.
Textiles
Pierre Frey
The Paris house with the deepest archive in decoration. One curtain in a Braquenié print changes a room.
Rugs
Christopher Farr and Nordic Knots
Farr for artist collaborations woven in Turkey and Nepal; Nordic Knots for Swedish flatweaves at fair prices. The floor is where a room begins.
Galleries
Contemporary collectible design
The furniture that is sold through galleries and design fairs (Carpenters Workshop, Nilufar, PAD, Design Miami) and that appreciates like art. One piece per room is enough.
| Maker | Category | The piece | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| B&B Italia | Seating | Camaleonda sofa | from $12,000 |
| Cassina | Classics | LC4 chaise longue | from $6,000 |
| Minotti | Seating | Connery sofa | from $15,000 |
| Flexform | Seating | Groundpiece sofa | from $14,000 |
| Carl Hansen & Søn | Dining | Wishbone chair | from $900 |
| Flos | Lighting | Arco floor lamp | from $3,500 |
| Apparatus | Lighting | Cloud chandelier | from $8,000 |
| Pierre Frey | Fabric and wallpaper | Braquenié archive prints | from $200 per metre |
| Christopher Farr and Nordic Knots | Rugs | A hand-knotted wool rug | from $4,000 |
| Contemporary collectible design | Design art | A piece by Vincenzo De Cotiis, Faye Toogood, Pierre Yovanovitch or Rick Owens | from $20,000 |
Questions people ask
Which luxury furniture brands are the best?
B&B Italia, Cassina, Minotti, Flexform and Poltrona Frau in Italy; Carl Hansen, Fritz Hansen and Vitra for classics; Apparatus and Flos for lighting.
Is designer furniture worth the money?
Licensed classics and pieces from the major Italian houses hold value, last decades and resell. Fast-furniture copies do neither.
What is collectible design?
Limited-edition or unique furniture and lighting sold through galleries and design fairs, made by named designers and priced and traded like art.
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