When attendees at Bottega Veneta’s Spring 2025 fashion show in Milan took their seats, they didn’t sit on standard spindle-back chairs or a row of strategically placed benches. Instead, they sat on leather armchairs in the shapes of animals like dogs, rabbits, chickens, and elephants.
Matthew Blazy is no stranger to creating memorable sets: At his Spring 2023 show, guests sat on resin chairs designed by Gaetano Pesce. His soft menagerie, however, has captured the internet’s attention, especially after videos of stars like A$AP Rocky and Jacob Elordi relaxing in these cozy creations went viral on TikTok. (The latter has a rabbit, by the way.)
So, what’s the story behind these stylish bean bags? Let’s talk about it.
Blazy Zanotta was inspired by the Sacco chair, originally designed in 1968 by Italian modernists Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro. Its blunt shape was quite revolutionary at the time: unlike most seats that preceded it, the Sacco chair was completely free of rigidity, fully embracing comfort. This reflected the wider cultural shift from the conservative 1950s to the more experimental and liberal 1960s and 1970s.
Now, 56 years later, Blazy decided to transform the chair into a vintage chair. Her spring 2025 collection is based on the concept of childhood – “I’m interested in the idea of ‘wow’ when you’re a kid and you try something and you’re amazed – it’s almost like primitive fashion, when you see your parents’ stuff, it’s the first time you wear clothes and you get a sense of fashion,” she told Eskom’s Nicole Phelps. The bean bag chair embodies this playful and playful sensibility, which is based on the type of furniture you find in kids’ bedrooms today. “It’s like we’re kids in the recreation room again, knees tucked under our chins, and looking forward to watching our favorite show on television,” Phelps said.
Bottega Veneta confirmed to Askew that the seating area includes 15 animals and insects: dogs, pandas, rabbits, ladybugs, snakes, birds, chickens, dinosaurs, otters, elephants, cats, foxes, bears, horses and whales. Step into a sea of nostalgic reverence rather than biblical chaos. “That’s the idea of the Ark: a delightful world with a sense of wonder, filled with friendly companions that make you smile and say ‘wow,'” Blazer said. “They’re made entirely of leather and low to the ground, so you get a different perspective when you sit on them — they’re snug and comfortable! I hope people will continue to feel that sense of wonder every time they come across them.
Well, you can actually do that. This December, a limited edition design of Bottega Veneta’s Sacco chair will be available for sale at Design Miami, the major design fair in Miami, Florida, which is held simultaneously with Art Basel. They can also be found at bottegaveneta.com.