Milan, Italy

laCividina presents Lisse, the new upholstered collection by designer Sabine Marcelis, who brings her unmistakable sculptural approach to the world of furniture.

The project was born as a natural evolution of Marcelis’s research into materials and forms, initially initiated through her collaboration with a Swiss ultra-luxury skincare brand, for which the designer created furniture and a pop-up structure that debuted at the last edition of Art Basel in Miami. This experience prompted her to explore soft materials for the first time, after a career mainly dedicated to hard surfaces such as glass and natural stone. “My first sofa forced me to use materials I had never worked with before”, Marcelis explained. “I usually work with rigid materials, but I wanted to capture fluidity and ergonomics in one continuous form”.

The name Lisse – from the French “soft” – encapsulates the essence of the project: a sofa that combines enveloping comfort and formal purity in a single expression.

The collaboration between Sabine Marcelis and laCividina stems from a deep connection with Pierre Paulin’s iconic Osaka sofa, a piece that the designer owns and has used in many of her designs. From this mutual admiration came the idea to create a new collection that reinterprets the language of upholstery with an innovative perspective.

Lisse is distinguished by its flexibility without modularity: a sofa that can be adapted to different contexts without the need for additional elements. An island positioned in front of the back transforms it into a sofa, which at the same time can become a more complex composition thanks to poufs or seats that can be placed in the space independently.

The sofa can be mirrored to create a mirrored configuration, while the movable elements can be freely distributed in the space. This versatility makes it perfect for contract spaces such as lobbies and lounge areas.

The collection also introduces a novelty in terms of materials: Lisse is upholstered with Mylla, the first fully recycled polyester single-material fabric developed by the Dutch brand Febrik.

laCividina has skilfully processed this material to ensure a surface without visible seams, preserving the purity and continuity of the form. “I worked closely with laCividina to ensure that everything had as few seams as possible”, explained Marcelis.

“When using organic shapes, there are usually a lot of seams to achieve that result, otherwise wrinkles are created. But for this sofa, there are only two visible seams in the whole piece, and I am really grateful for that”.

With Lisse, laCividina and Sabine Marcelis sign a collection that combines sculptural aesthetics, material innovation and versatility, offering a new perspective on contemporary upholstery.

The design of Lisse is born from a simple fluid gesture, which translates into an organic and harmonious form, capable of enveloping those who sit down with a sense of protection and welcome.

With Lisse, Sabine Marcelis and laCividina redefine the concept of comfort and flexibility, creating a sofa capable of adapting over time, growing together with those who choose it.

laCividina – Italian manufacturing culture sets the standard: Founded in 1976 by Carlo Bulfoni, and today led by his son Fulvio and his wife Paola, laCividina produces contemporary design sofas and armchairs with ingenuity and originality, preserving the inestimable value of Italian manufacturing culture in its workmanship. This attention to detail, which expresses authentic Made in Italy, is combined with the ability to compete internationally, thanks to an evolved managerial culture and effective production organisation. The Friuli-based company continues to evolve, focusing on an even more eclectic and appealing offer and collaborating with leading figures in the world of design, such as Antonio Rodriguez and Antonino Sciortino, Pierre Paulin, Constance Guisset, Form Us With Love and Sebastian Herkner. Each collection is the result of a dialogue with designers from all over the world: this is how laCividina has become a partner in important interior design projects in public (hotels, museums, cruise ships…) and private environments. Today, laCividina’s innovative and highly technological factory covers an area of approximately 19,000 square metres, where all the people who work there are highly qualified and manufacture made-to-measure products. The important growth path underway is also witnessed by the recent opening of a showroom in Milan, over 250 square metres, a path made up of ‘rooms-non-rooms’ that is fluid, comfortable, material; a result to which the precise interior design choices curated by Alessandra, founder of Studio Salaris, in collaboration with Luca Botto (Art Director of the brand) contribute. Here the company displays its most recent collections but also the most iconic ones that have made it internationally known, transforming its new exhibition spaces into an unprecedented experience of knowledge, manufacture and true sustainability.