The 5 Ways to Style a Togo Sofa

Few sofas stand out like this week’s focus, and even fewer have done so for as long. Michel Ducaroy’s Togo has maintained the admiration of design audiences since its inception and continues to do so more than half a century later. At the time, it towered above its competition (figuratively, of course, as this low-slung sensation drew renown for taking users closer to the ground and closer to comfort than ever before) and still it stands tall.

In the modern age, the Togo has been exposed to a tidal wave of online attention. As the darling of the social media era, it has been the subject of house tours, influencer wish lists, and even the odd dodgy counterfeit (which is a whole other thing we won’t get into). But what good is having this laid-back, sought-after piece of design history without knowing what to do with it? Well, as always, your friendly neighbourhood furniture emporium has a few style ideas for Ligne Roset’s greatest design contribution.

The ’70s were (by all accounts) a wild era for design. With colour palettes as bold as the font choices, and Brutalism reaching its concrete crescendo, a life without limits and open-plan living were all the rage. Enter our hero piece: the Togo. Pretty much the zeitgeist of mid-to-late 20th-century interiors—just as it is for many budding retro design aficionados today.

Why? Well, when you take a modular sofa, layer it with a tantalising tone, comfort that says “make yourself at home,” and the lightness to move it to any corner in your space, you have yourself the perfect embodiment of the disco dynasty. For the perfect balance of this style, try a combination of these.

The City of Light—or is it the City of Love? Paris is, at the very least, worth an honourable mention as the city of style. What we do know for certain is that it’s where the Togo began its timeline of timelessness. The 1973 Salon des Arts Ménagers provided the platform for its release, and it’s hard to imagine a better place for it to make a name for itself. There’s something about decadent high ceilings that contrast so beautifully with the ground-hugging sofa. Dramatic design meets laissez-faire living—the perfect clash of the 1970s and the 1700s at the height of their collective prowess.

Here’s a more detailed dive into achieving the perfect Parisian look: try a thick-weave upholstery with these gentle details to match.

If you’re a regular reader of ours, you know we always champion individuals following their own design story. But displaying your personality while maintaining at least some sense of order is a fine art. If one thing about the Togo rings true, it’s its ability to allow self-expression while still making a stylish statement.

A carefully placed Alcantara fabric can put your seating solution centre-stage. No matter how abstract the rest of your design choices are. It's the option for those that don't have their favourite colours dictated to by trends or time-bound recommendations. That for all the egg-shell white and beige, a bold hue will always represent them.

As with any design legend of the last decade, the Togo has embraced the softest and cosiest of upholsteries: bouclé. This Scandi sensation has been everywhere in recent memory, and thanks to the Togo’s versatile nature, the pairing feels like a match made in heaven. Already plush with comfort, a fabric like Capa or Cowo adds that extra layer of luxury to sink into.

It draws you in—like some sort of Disney character floating toward a pie on a windowsill. So if you’re a fan of bright woods and brighter windows, bouclé is for you. Pair it with these pieces for the ultimate Franco-Scandi crossover.

Few sofas have the chameleon-like ability to lend themselves to a retro room, a Scandi setting, and a Gothic apartment. Fortunately, by now you should be under the impression that we aren’t talking about just any sofa. One of the more underrated use cases of the Togo is a dark and gloomy paradise.

Velvet is already considered a sultry, moody fabric at the best of times, but drape it over one of interior design’s most famous pieces and the contrast of ultra-soft comfort packaged in defined lines conjures the ideal sofa for a moody setting. The entire aesthetic is sweetened (or embittered) by these designs.