Roche Bobois (stylized as roche bobois) is a French company which designs and retails furniture and home accessories.[1]
History
In 1960, having become acquainted at the Copenhagen Furniture Fair, Philippe and François Roche joined forces with Jean-Claude and Patrick Chouchan to import Scandinavian furniture to Paris. Soon after, they added Scandinavian giftware, such as textiles, tableware and tapestries to their furniture ranges. Known as 'complementary objects', these accessories were sold in adjoining boutiques.
1961: The first joint national advertising campaign was launched in Elle magazine. Two campaigns a year have been created every year since, over a period of nearly 50 years. Creation of the first joint catalogue and development of a joint national network of franchises based on retail alone with no ownership of manufacturing resources, a revolutionary business model at the time.
1965: Opening of the first showroom outside France, in Belgium.
In 1970, Philippe Roche and colleagues meet designer Hans Hopfer while on a trip to Germany. The latter's design for a sofa that allows you to 'live at ground level', initially named 'Lounge', has, under its newer name 'Mah Jong', been Roche Bobois's best-selling sofa design since 1990. Roche Bobois Mah Jong