Art you can sit on

A chair is not just a chair at Italian furniture maker Moroso - it's also a work of art. The company, founded in 1952 by Agostino Moroso, has evolved from a small family business based in Udine in north-east Italy into a dynamic design-driven luxury brand with a global reputation for innovation, aesthetics and attention to detail.

Moroso chairs and sofas are visually stunning, usually identifiable by colourful fabric upholstery and defined by technical expertise as well as a quirky sensibility derived from a practice of collaborating with some of the best artists, architects and designers in the world.

In the early days, Agostino Moroso worked with local artisans to produce small quantities of high-quality wooden furniture. By the late-1970s however, the European economy was slow and sales were sluggish. His two children Patrizia and Roberto joined the company and - thanks to Patricia's art-school background and design-world contacts - turned the company and its once-staid image around by inviting talented young artists to design furniture for it.