Where to Buy Bellini Camaleonda Sofas (and Their Lookalikes)

Remember the Blob Renaissance? It gave us Goober candles, a newfound Ultrafragola frenzy, and enough spray foam furniture to insulate an industrial warehouse. As Bettina Makalintal writes for VICE in her blob decor breakdown, amorphous decor and furniture gave us “a little bit of comfort and levity” during the ups and downs of 2020, and it continues to woo us with its wiggles and curves.  Consider the latest ‘it’ item of blob decor, the coveted Camaleonda sofa by Mario Bellini:

Tufted cushions, gorgeous colorways, corners thick enough to schmear on a bagel—no wonder Bellini’s baby has become such a design flex, and the reason why (depending on your tax bracket) you’re Googling “where to buy authentic Bellini sofas for cheap”/“where to buy Bellini sofa dupes”/”how to sell organs to cop Bellini.” We don’t blame you, jabroni. It’s one chic slice of Italian design. 

When the Camaleonda sofa first dropped in 1972, it was as part of a MoMA exhibit about the future of Italian home designs. As Mario Bellini himself stated in this 2020 video interview, “Certain products are born in the future. Camaleonda is one of them. It is so innovative that it is more contemporary today than when it was designed.” 

Remember, the 1970s was (aesthetically) all about evolving past the era of sharp, Googie mid-century design. Handsome, jaunty MCM settées were giving way to more amorphous furniture forms [the Togo sofa has entered the chat]. In the bouba/kiki effect binary, it was a hard swerve to Bouba Town. Even the Carmaleonda’s name—a portmanteau of the Italian words for "chameleon" and "wave"—is a testament to its modular form, which could be rearranged on a whim thanks to simple hook mechanisms in the cushions. As Bellini says in the above video, “[The sofa] relates to this way of shaping one's home environment to meet a personal lifestyle, which is something that wasn’t undertaken back then.”  

No wonder it still hits more than 50 years later. There are countless Carmaleondas on our Instagram feeds, and more than 415,500 views from the hashtag #BelliniCouch alone on TikTok. A few years ago, the sofa even relaunched in a partnership with Eternity Modern, making it easier than ever for the Bellini-curious to get their hands on a tangerine velvet Carmaleonda, and their tuchuses on a piece of design history.  

Can you imagine sipping Bellinis on that Bellini? Eternity Modern is filled with Camaleondas for every kind of design-savvy person. Do you like green tea, crisp fragrances, and Claire Denis movies? Go for a cream chenille Camaleonda sofa. Are you looking for a small space sofa that feels ~casual~, but will still let everyone know that you love whiskey, and have a JSTOR account? Take home a two-seater, vegan leather Camaleonda. If you’re Drake, buy this $8,000 Camaleonda (and maybe use Eternity Modern’s sale code SPRING for 10% off).

You could also go the vintage route, and shop some of our favorite used furniture sites such as 1stDibs, eBay, Etsy, and Chairish for archive Camaleonda sofas and chairs in vintage leather and crushed velvet fabrics. 

Now, in a perfect world, we would get five times our annual salary back on our tax return this year and impulse-order this $31,000 lime green Camaleonda with no consequences. In reality, we need to sniff out some Camaleonda-inspired sofas and alternatives that won’t put us into debt. Luckily, Amazon has some Bellini-inspired couches that will leave the heaux none the wiser, including this creamy three-seater.

Want a Bellini-esque sofa for under $600? This highly-rated couch comes in a plush teddy material, and has similarly pronounced, tufted cushions that we love on a Camaleonda. 

Wayfair is also flush with Camaleonda lookalikes, including the 4.7-star rated Cylan velvet sofa that comes in cream, burnt orange, and emerald colorways. As one reviewer writes, “It is gorgeous but that’s not why I’m giving it 5 stars. I’m giving it 5 stars because of how easy it is to clean.” 

We’re suckers for the extra leg room granted to us by a sectional couch, and this tangerine-colored modular sofa is the perfect size for stretching out and having acrobatic sex re-watching Two Popes.  

Well done, design laird. Next up: Noguchi lamps. 

The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.