Margherì: Where Italian Craftsmanship Meets the Outdoor World
Italian furniture brand Flexform has long been synonymous with understated luxury, precision craftsmanship, and a deeply considered approach to interior living. Known for creating some of the most elegantly restrained sofas, armchairs, and beds in the contemporary design world, the Milan-based brand has built a decades-long reputation on the idea that fine furniture should feel as enduring as it looks. Now, Flexform is extending that philosophy beyond the walls of the home with a new outdoor furniture collection — and the result is as refined as anything the brand has ever produced indoors.
The collection is called Margherì, and it was designed by Italian architect and designer Monica Armani, a long-standing collaborator of Flexform. The name itself carries a poetic softness — evoking the Italian word for daisy — and that lightness threads through every element of the collection's design language. Margherì is not a departure from Flexform's identity; it is a natural, graceful extension of it, reimagined for terraces, gardens, and the open air.
The Vision Behind Margherì
Monica Armani's approach to the Margherì collection was rooted in a fundamental question: what does it mean to bring the comfort and intimacy of an indoor living space into the outdoor environment? For too long, outdoor furniture has operated under a separate visual logic — prioritising weather resistance and practicality at the expense of warmth, texture, and character. Armani sought to close that gap entirely.
The result is a collection that borrows the softness and sculptural presence of Flexform's beloved interior pieces and translates them into forms suited to open-air use. Clean, flowing lines define the silhouettes, while the material choices have been carefully selected to withstand the demands of outdoor exposure without sacrificing the tactile richness that makes Flexform's furniture so distinctly human in its feel.
Armani has spoken about designing with a sense of quietude — pieces that do not shout for attention but instead settle into their environment and invite the people around them to slow down. Margherì embodies this sensibility completely. Each piece in the collection feels considered without being fussy, generous without being oversized, and refined without feeling cold.
Design Details and Material Palette
The Margherì collection includes seating, lounge chairs, and accompanying tables, all unified by a consistent formal vocabulary. The frames draw on Flexform's mastery of structure, presenting clean architectural shapes that provide both visual coherence and genuine structural integrity for outdoor conditions. The proportions are generous — designed for lounging, for lingering, for the kind of unhurried time that outdoor living is at its best.
The upholstery choices play a central role in the collection's identity. Soft, weather-resistant fabrics in muted, natural tones echo the palette of a Mediterranean garden — sand, stone, pale olive, and warm cream. These choices tie the furniture to the natural world rather than separating it from it, allowing the pieces to feel like they belong in an outdoor setting rather than merely tolerating it.
- Structural frames engineered for outdoor durability while maintaining visual slenderness
- Weather-resistant upholstery fabrics in a carefully curated range of natural tones
- Proportions designed for deep comfort and extended outdoor relaxation
- Coordinating side tables and occasional pieces to complete the outdoor living setup
- A design language that bridges seamlessly between indoor and outdoor spaces
The material palette also reflects a broader commitment to longevity. Flexform has always positioned itself as a brand that makes furniture to be kept, not replaced, and Margherì carries that ethos outdoors. The materials are chosen not just to survive outdoor conditions but to age with dignity — to develop a patina that deepens rather than degrades their appeal over time.
Monica Armani and Flexform: A Collaborative Language
Monica Armani's history with Flexform spans many years and numerous significant collections. Her design philosophy aligns closely with the brand's own: a preference for forms that are resolved rather than restless, for quality that speaks quietly, and for furniture that serves people rather than performing for them. This deep familiarity means that Margherì does not read as the work of an outsider interpreting a brand's values, but rather as a genuine continuation of a shared design language.
Armani has consistently demonstrated an ability to design furniture that feels both timeless and contemporary — pieces that do not feel dated by trends but that nonetheless feel entirely present and alive. Margherì achieves precisely this balance. It will look as relevant in a decade as it does today, which is, perhaps, the highest compliment one can offer any piece of furniture design.
The Growing Importance of Outdoor Living Design
The launch of Margherì arrives at a moment when the design world's attention to outdoor living has never been more serious. Across the industry, leading furniture houses are recognising that the boundary between inside and outside has dissolved — particularly in the way people design and experience their homes today. Terraces, gardens, and roof spaces are no longer afterthoughts; they are full extensions of the living environment, deserving of the same investment and care as any interior room.
Flexform's entry into this space with Margherì signals a maturation of the outdoor furniture category. It is a statement that outdoor living can be held to the same standards of craft, comfort, and design intelligence as the finest indoor furniture — and that there is no reason to compromise on any of these qualities simply because a piece will live beneath the sky.
A Collection for Considered Outdoor Living
Margherì is, above all, a collection for people who care deeply about how they inhabit their spaces — inside and out. It is designed for those who understand that good furniture is not just about aesthetics but about the quality of life it enables: the long afternoon on a shaded terrace, the evening gathering that extends long after the sun has set, the morning coffee taken slowly in the company of a well-made chair.
With Margherì, Monica Armani and Flexform have created something genuinely rare in the outdoor furniture market: a collection that offers all the tactile richness, visual elegance, and enduring quality of the finest Italian interior furniture, now fully available for the open air. It is, in every sense, outdoor furniture for people who love great design — and who refuse to leave that love behind when they step outside.