Leather "Confidential" Chair by Alberto Rosselli for Saporiti

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Brown leather armchair by Alberto Rosselli for Saporiti's Confidential collection. Matching sofa available, sold separately.

Alberto Rosselli (1921–1976) was an … Read more Brown leather armchair by Alberto Rosselli for Saporiti's Confidential collection. Matching sofa available, sold separately.

Alberto Rosselli (1921–1976) was an Italian architect, designer, editor, and critic whose influence extended well beyond furniture. Trained as an architect, he was deeply embedded in postwar Italian design culture, working closely with figures such as Gio Ponti and contributing to the intellectual framing of modern design through his role as co-founder and long-time editor of Domus. Rosselli’s design approach emphasized clarity of form, industrial logic, and adaptability—qualities that translated naturally into furniture systems rather than isolated objects.

Saporiti Italia, founded in Besnate in 1948, became one of Italy’s most forward-looking furniture manufacturers during the 1960s and 1970s. The company was known for close collaborations with architects and designers and for embracing new materials—particularly molded plastics and fiberglass—alongside traditional upholstery. Saporiti positioned itself at the intersection of comfort, modularity, and modern living, anticipating changing domestic and contract interiors.

Rosselli’s Confidential seating series for Saporiti, developed in the early 1970s, reflects this shared philosophy. Rather than designing a single chair, Rosselli conceived a coordinated family of lounge seating—chairs, sofas, and modular elements—with soft, enveloping forms set on sculptural molded bases. The collection balanced visual mass with ergonomic comfort, aligning Rosselli’s architectural sensibility with Saporiti’s technical capacity for industrial production. Today, the Confidential chairs are regarded as emblematic of Italian design’s shift in the 1970s toward relaxed luxury, expressive form, and system-based furniture rather than rigid modernist minimalism. See less