The appointment with the Icon of Design returns at last, a bimonthly column where we talk about the most famous furniture of the 20th century.

We pick up where we left off with a seating piece beloved for its simple yet extremely recognizable design: the CAB 412, produced by Cassina and designed by Mario Bellini in 1977.

“A new kind of chair, entirely made of leather, now widely cloned.”

This is how the Milanese designer defines his creation, aware that he had designed a chair that over the years became a true icon. It adds to the already vast body of work by Bellini, a brilliant and prolific designer, creator of furniture that has marked the history of Italian and international design.
Camaleonda, Le Bambole, La Rotonda, Duc Duc, Gli Scacchi just to name a few.
The CAB 412 is known worldwide, also for its presence in several museums, including the Triennale di Milano and the MoMA in New York.

Designed and produced over 40 years ago, it was the first chair-armchair with a self-supporting leather structure, inspired by the skeleton-skin relationship.

The upholstery is made of several leather parts subjected to a handcrafted process that reduces their thickness. Once the leather assembly is complete, the covering is fitted onto a steel frame and closed with zippers.
The chair, made in several colors, is still in production in Cassina’s ‘I Contemporanei’ collection and is an object that best synthesizes the excellence of craftsmanship and industrial efficiency of Made in Italy, admired worldwide.

A great merit of the CAB 412, and consequently of Bellini, is having brought designer furniture into everyday life, revolutionizing the world of chairs.

For fans of original vintage, we have a set of six CAB 412 chairs in black, in excellent condition, available to view in our Milan store or in our catalog at Di Mano in Mano.

See you next time!