Milan Design Week 2025: Philippe Malouin's 'Great' Hem sofa

Great sofa for Hem — (Image credit: Kasia Bobula)

The clue is in the name, of course, but Philippe Malouin’s new sofa for Swedish manufacturer Hem is indeed wonderful. Three years in development, the modular sofa is supremely comfortable (unlike many of its ilk), achieving just the right balance of squashy and firm to sink and support a weary body and soul, simultaneously.

Beyond the generosity of its proportions, which would sit well in big and small spaces, the ingenuity here lies in the padded Kvadrat upholstery, which the designer describes as a ‘hoodie feature’. This is a clever cover, essentially, with elasticated corners and button fastenings that secure both upholstery and modules together; there is room for a bit of give, but you won’t spend your life shifting the blocks back together and retucking the topper back in.

A relaxed aesthetic and a lived-in patina were important for the designer, and we’re calling it early: the ‘Great’ sofa will surely enter the canon of contemporary classics. Look out for it at Milan Design Week 2025 in April.

Hem.com

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Hugo is a design critic, curator and the co-founder of Bard, a gallery in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish design and craft. A long-serving member of the Wallpaper* family, he has also been the design editor at Monocle and the brand director at Studioilse, Ilse Crawford's multi-faceted design studio. Today, Hugo wields his pen and opinions for a broad swathe of publications and panels. He has twice curated both the Object section of MIART (the Milan Contemporary Art Fair) and the Harewood House Biennial. He consults as a strategist and writer for clients ranging from Airbnb to Vitra, Ikea to Instagram, Erdem to The Goldsmith's Company. Hugo recently returned to the Wallpaper* fold to cover the parental leave of Rosa Bertoli as global design director, and is now serving as its design critic.