Sofa bed design is converging towards much higher standards than in the past: reliable mechanisms, high-performance mattresses, technical padding and a formal language that must remain clean even in the most complex configurations. In this scenario, Milano Bedding has chosen a clear path: to develop products in which aesthetics, engineering and comfort work together, without hierarchies.
It is an approach that directly affects the world of design, because it modifies the role of the sofa bed in residential and contract spaces, making it a primary element of the distribution system and not a functional addition.
On this direction – and on what awaits the typology in the coming years – we spoke with Roberto De Lorenzo , CEO of Milano Bedding.
Interview Milano Bedding: the future of the transformable explained by Roberto De Lorenzo
In this interview Roberto De Lorenzo explains to us how Milano Bedding, born from Kover’s artisanal experience, has built a new vision of the sofa bed, transforming it into an evolved design typology where mechanics, aesthetics and comfort interact in an integrated way.
Kover’s artisan origins, already active in the 1980s, have generated rare know-how in the upholstery sector. Which aspects of that production culture – not only technical, but also values ??- have become the permanent DNA of Milano Bedding?
Born as a quilt factory specialized in textile manufacturing – quilts, upholstery coverings, transformable sofas – Kover has developed a rare know-how, made up of precision, manual skill and direct control of each phase. This heritage is reflected today in the absolute care of the finishes, in the tailoring of the coverings, in the stitching and padding made with authentic Italian artisan quality in our factory in Brianza.
Alongside technical expertise, the values that have guided the company since the beginning remain: attention to detail, respect for materials, dedication to a job well done and an approach strongly oriented towards durability and customer satisfaction. It is this combination of manual skills and product culture that continues to define Milano Bedding.
You have transformed a product often perceived as “secondary” into one of the most complex segments of Italian design. Why is the sofa bed, today, a field of innovation closer to engineering than to furniture? And what prejudices in the sector did you have to dismantle?
Milano Bedding has contributed to transforming the sofa bed from a “secondary” product to a contemporary design piece of furniture, where transformability is no longer a simple functional requirement but a central design element.
Today the sofa bed is a complex field of innovation, it requires integrating aesthetics, ergonomics, mechanics and comfort both when sitting and while resting: two functions that must coexist without compromise.
We have worked precisely to undermine the historical prejudice that saw the sofa bed as a temporary or makeshift solution. Our models demonstrate that it can become the true protagonist of the environment, offI provide the same aesthetic quality of a high-end sofa and the comfort of a bed designed for everyday use.
The choice to invest in Lampolet mechanisms played a decisive role: technologically advanced, reliable and fluid systems, capable of combining practicality of use, robustness and construction quality.
You lead a brand that has made mechanical precision an aesthetic element. How do you build a vision in which invisible technology, durability and comfort become a single competitive strategy?
For us, technology, durability and comfort are not essential elements, parts of a single design vision. Mechanical precision expressed in the Lampolet mechanisms must be perceived by the customer as ease of use: a fluid, intuitive, reliable opening. The sturdy structure guarantees the longevity of the product, while the quality of our mattresses allows you to choose the most suitable level of comfort, up to solutions designed for daily and intensive use, such as in hospitality facilities.
In Milano Bedding all this becomes a unique competitive strategy: technology is “invisible” because it is naturally integrated into the aesthetics, durability is a concrete promise and comfort is an immediately perceivable value. We don’t limit ourselves to producing sofa beds, but we reinterpret the convertible as an object designed to last, where mechanics, design and well-being coexist without compromise.
Is there a precise moment in which you understood that Milano Bedding was no longer a manufacturer of sofa beds, but a cultural actor in the project? An episode, a contract or feedback from the market that marked a change in perception?
There was not a single moment, but a path that over time made it clear that Milano Bedding was no longer just a manufacturer of sofa beds, but a true cultural actor of the project. Two factors, in particular, have marked this change in perception.
The first, the entry into an increasingly close dialogue with designers and planners: collaborations that pushed us to evolve the product, to reinterpret it and to propose solutions that became part of a design language, not just a function.
The second concerns the growing presence in international markets. Over time we have become a recognized partner for complex projects, including tailor-made ones, in very different sectors: from hotels to cruise ships, up to high-profile residential environments where models with a distinctive character are required.
It is in this intertwining of design, project culture and industrial capacity that I understood that Milano Bedding had surpassed the role of simple producer.
Models like Clarke, Rufus, Goodman or Tommy have become case studies for interior designers and retailers. Is there a hidden detail, an initial mistake, a radical intuition or a turning point in the genesis of one of these pieces?
Speaking, for example, of Goodman, the real innovation introduced with this model was bringing a sofa bed with curved shapes to the sector – dominated by predominantly square lines – a solution that had previously not existed. With Goodman, he saidBorn by Alessandro Elli, we wanted to change the way of conceiving the sofa bed, not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also with respect to its insertion into the space.
Thanks to its design, in fact, the Goodman sofa bed can also be placed in the center of the room, transforming itself from a secondary element into the true protagonist of the environment.
Lampolet mechanisms are a recognized technological brand. How difficult is it to bring such complex technology into the world of design without “showing it”? What was the biggest challenge in making mechanics an element of reliability and not of fear for the consumer?
We have chosen to invest in Lampolet mechanisms because they guarantee fluid opening and closing, ease of use, reliability and structural quality: characteristics that for us represent the basis of every project.
The greatest challenge was precisely that of transforming the mechanics into something “invisible”, not in the sense of hidden, but integrated: an element perceived by the consumer only through its reliability, silence, the simplicity of the gesture. We wanted the mechanism to become an ally of the design.
Today Lampolet technology is part of our concept of guaranteed comfort: a quality that cannot be seen, but felt every time the product is used. It is this technical heritage, silent but present, that allows our sofa beds to express the same safety in durability and the same immediacy of use as a product designed for everyday life.
A sofa bed encompasses two different ergonomics: that of sitting and that of sleeping. How do you integrate two often opposing disciplines progressive comfort and ergonomic support into a single product without aesthetic compromises?
Integrating the ergonomics of sitting and sleeping into a single product means designing each sofa bed as a complete system, in which mechanics, design, mattresses and padding work synergistically. The objective is to guarantee well-being and comfort in both configurations, without one function penalizing the other.
In our models the seat is designed to offer progressive comfort and hospitality, while the mattress ensures correct support, designed for quality rest even on a daily basis and approaching real bed mattresses; mechanics becomes the invisible bridge that allows the passage between these two.
We also offer a wide range of models and mattresses precisely because needs can be different. When the customer already knows the main use of the product, we can guide him towards the most suitable solution based on the space, frequency of use and furnishing context, always ensuring the maximum balance between aesthetics and performance.
Collaborating with designers such as Simone Micheli, Alessandro Elli and Christophe Pillet means aligning very different sensibilities. How does the creative dialogue with these brands originate and develop? And how much space do you give to their vision within the brand identity?
The dialogue with designers is never a simple collaboration, but a process of co-creation. The starting point is mutual listening: on the one hand their aesthetic visionand cultural, on the other our technical, productive and ergonomic experience. It is in this exchange that a shared value is born, capable of transforming itself into a product that expresses both sensitivities.
Within the Milano Bedding project, the creative space of the designers is wide, because we believe that the quality of the design is an essential element of our models. At the same time we ensure that each proposal communicates with our values: intelligent transformability, real comfort, mechanical precision and contemporary aesthetics.
The result is a balance in which their vision enriches the brand’s identity and the brand, in turn, offers a solid and coherent ground on which that vision can best express itself.
In an era dominated by 3D, physical prototyping remains central to your process. Why? And what is the most delicate moment in which a project really “works”: the sketch, the model, the first prototype or the tests with the mechanism?
For Milano Bedding, physical prototyping is an important step and investment, despite the growing importance of 3D. Only with a real prototype can we verify how the “invisible technology” – mechanism, ergonomics, comfort of mattresses and padding, quality of workmanship and robustness – integrates harmoniously into a single product.
The decisive moment arrives with the first prototype equipped with operational mechanics: it is there that we really understand if the project works, if opening and closing are fluid, if the aesthetics remain clean, if the comfort is up to par and if the structure meets our standards.
When something is not yet perfect, the work continues or starts again until all the quality criteria that define a Milano Bedding model are achieved. Only then can the project be considered completed.
The contract world requires volumes, durability, customization and certain times. How are you responding to the new demand for “hybrid” hospitality, including hotels, micro-living and flexible residences?
For us the contract world is a strategic and challenging area. We respond to the specific needs of the sector with an extremely structured approach, also offering tailor-made solutions that include not only sofa beds, but also upholstered beds with storage and transformable poufs, all customizable in terms of design, fabrics, finishes and dimensions.
Our proposal for the contract takes into account the specificities of contemporary hospitality where versatility is fundamental. This is why we offer coverings suitable for intensive use, easy to clean and resistant over time, without sacrificing elegance and aesthetic quality.
An emblematic example is Lampo Gemellare: an ideal model for flexible rooms, which can transform into one or two independent single beds depending on needs. It is exactly the type of solution that is requested in family rooms today: functional, adaptable and at the same time with attention to the design and comfort of the mattress.
Our contract strategy is not based on generic products, but on solutions designed to evolve with the projects.
If you had to choose just one product that represents the intelligentza invisibili” by Milano Bedding, what would it be and why? What is a project that could not have been created by anyone else?
The product that best represents the invisible intelligence of Milano Bedding is Rufus, designed by Christophe Pillet and presented at the Salone del Mobile 2025. Its peculiarity is the extremely low structure, almost touching the floor: an unusual and innovative formal choice in the world of transformable sofas, made possible only thanks to long joint research and development work.
Rufus contains a large, welcoming and 200 cm long bed, obtained through a practical, fluid and silent opening mechanism that allows you to extract a thin but surprisingly comfortable mattress.
Rufus is the synthesis of mechanical precision, aesthetic sensitivity and a profound experience in the culture of the transformable.
Internationalization today is made up of micro-markets rather than macro-areas. Where is the demand for transformable design really growing and what cultural differences emerge in the relationship between the public and the sofa bed?
We too have noted that, in the transformable design sector, today mainly micro-markets count: geographical, sociodemographic and cultural niches where the home is experienced in a flexible way.
Growth is not homogeneous, but is concentrated in high-density urban contexts and in segments where available space represents a central value. Consequently, transformable design is particularly requested where the environment must be dynamic and multifunctional. Our sofa bed responds perfectly to this need, as it can take on different identities: a quality hospitality solution, a bed for everyday use, a tool for optimizing space and, at the same time, an element of comfort in all its functions.
Looking to 2035, what will remain indispensable in your DNA? And what will be the revolution technological, aesthetic or typological that Milano Bedding will bring to the sector?
In 2035 I imagine Milano Bedding still deeply anchored to its artisan culture combined with engineering precision, care in workmanship, reliability of mechanics and an idea of comfort that accepts no compromises.
At the same time, I see a company capable of leading the evolution of the sector, introducing increasingly innovative models on a technological, aesthetic and typological level. We will continue to invest in research into materials, mechanisms and transformable solutions that integrate new functions, maintaining an essential and timeless aesthetic.
The revolution will be precisely this: combining advanced technology and everyday beauty, giving life to products that last, evolve and fit naturally into new forms of living. Milano Bedding will continue to reinterpret the convertible, bringing it towards a new generation of intelligent comfort.
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