When Annie Hiéronimus joined Ligne Roset’s research and development department in 1976, she was the only woman in the design studio, a position she held for nearly two decades. Born in Paris, she trained at the Ecole des Métiers d’Arts et des Arts Appliqués before arriving at a company that was, at the time, becoming one of the most important names in French furniture.
The Sandra sofa, designed not long after she arrived, is what that combination produced: a piece so assured in its softness that it read as radical in an era dominated by rigid geometric forms, and so timeless that Ligne Roset has reissued it nearly 50 years later without changing much about it.
The Sandra was inspired by the layered softness of a peony, translated into an enveloping quilted form that wraps around the sitter like a piece of clothing.
“Sandra occupies a distinctive place in the history of modern French design,” says Simone Vingerhoets-Ziesmann, Executive VP of Ligne Roset in the Americas. “Originally introduced in 1977, it emerged during a period when designers were exploring innovative all-foam seating that emphasized both comfort and sculptural form. While it belongs to that influential era, its soft geometry and understated elegance feel remarkably contemporary today.”
The inspiration was a peony. Annie wasn’t interested in making a decorative object, but instead in translating the flower’s layered softness into something you could actually sit in, wrapping the sitter in horizontal and vertical quilting that she described as feeling like a piece of clothing or a nest.
The sofa is produced at Ligne Roset’s workshops in the Ain region of France, where the company has been making furniture for over 160 years.
“The signature horizontal and vertical quilting requires exact precision to maintain the sofa’s enveloping silhouette,” she says. “The close collaboration between the designer and Ligne Roset’s highly skilled prototyping workshop was instrumental in bringing this technically ambitious concept to life.”
That workshop sits in the Ain region of France, where Ligne Roset has been producing furniture for over 160 years. The company traces its roots back to 1860, when Antoine Roset founded it in the small French town of Oussiat. The Sandra is made there today much as it always was: precision-cut foams providing the sculptural structure, experienced upholsterers carefully assembling and tailoring the quilted cover by hand, each piece individually inspected and finished before shipping.
“Keeping production in France allows us to preserve our exceptional level of craftsmanship while maintaining a close collaboration between engineers and our artisans,” she says. “This approach ensures every detail, from the internal construction to the final upholstery, meets the brand’s high standards.”
Ligne Roset’s Sandra sofa, whose signature horizontal and vertical quilting is assembled and tailored entirely by hand. Photos courtesy of Ligne Roset
Comfort was Annie’s driving priority throughout. “She considered it the highest compliment when factory workers remarked, ‘If it’s comfortable, it’s Hiéronimus,’” she says. “She also believed that her own experience of living far from family inspired her desire to create furniture that felt especially warm and welcoming.”
Its reissue convincingly makes that case. “Rather than following fleeting trends, Ligne Roset creates furniture designed to last for decades, both in construction and aesthetic appeal,” she says. “Its sculptural form allows it to function as both a statement piece and an exceptionally comfortable everyday sofa.”
