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60 years of Calia: the idea of comfort born amid the Sassi of Matera
Calia Italia, U'Strozz
Calia Italia’s is a family history closely bound up with the values of its region, Basilicata, and in particular Matera, an important source of inspiration
Transparency, solidarity, resilience, reliability, care and respect for the family, for human resources, the tradition and culture of the land. These are the founding values of Calia Italia, which in 2025 is celebrating its 60th anniversary with the slogan “60 years. Timeless comfort”.
The founder Liborio Vincenzo Calia was born in Matera in 1926, “a place unique worldwide, made up of the Sassi (dwellings in the rocks), earth and sun-beaten stones, where the homes form labyrinthine burrows in the white and porous rock on the slopes of a precipice”. There set himself the goal of creating of a single type of product from the very beginning: upholstered furniture.
“People want to be comfortable to rest, close their eyes and dream. Ours is an effort made with both the head and the hands. Machines help us, but the work that matters most is that done by people,” he said. Since then, Calia Italia has been making sofas, armchairs, sofa beds and poufs to make people comfortable. Under Saverio Calia’s artistic and creative direction and Giuseppe Calia’s commercial strategy, it has become an important and internationally recognized company in the production of upholstered furniture.
“Matera is a resilient city, which over 8,000 years has come down to us in splendid form,” stresses Saverio Calia, adding: “The houses were small, so people would come out of doors into a sort of open-air living room. Everyone cooperated with each other, even though they weren’t related. There was a sort of mutual aid system...”
This spirit was enriched by the experience of a man who had provided for the upkeep of his family from a very early age. “My father then embodied these values in the company. Translating from the dialect he told us, ‘Never be afraid. You always have to take risks and never pull back in front of obstacles.’ Moreover he repeatedly told us that machines help in our work and constantly reminded us that our work is done with both hands and mind. Our mission is to make people feel good. People’s work is fundamental and important. Since then we have also been pursuing this concept by collaborating with the region in which we work. In short, we perpetuate our father’s great wish to do well.”
The 60th anniversary of Calia Italia
The Choco Magic sofa, an emblem of 60 years
Designed in 1984 by the founder Liborio Vincenzo Calia, the Magic sofa is now presented in a restyling by his son Saverio, architect and creative director of the company. Renamed Choco Magic, it is a tribute to the work of production that has been handed down from generation to generation.
The new version draws on 70s design, reviewed in its lines and details to bring out the balance between past and present. “Everything that contributes to enhancing the comfort of the product I have left unchanged,” explains Saverio Calia, “while acting on the outlines by introducing an armrest - dear to me - in the shape of a gianduiotto chocolate.” A feature of the sofa is its armrest, which reaches to the floor. The back, as in the original model, comes equipped with a headrest that can be raised manually, so helping to make sitting more relaxing.
Calia Italia, Choco Magic
U’Strozz, the pouf made out of production oddments
Saverio Calia recounts: “U’Strozz in the Matera vernacular means rags, the used and frayed pieces of fabric, whose last application was for cleaning the floor. I call it U’Strozz because it is made from production waste, inspired by the bundles of newspapers that we will most likely never see again, because newspapers are now all online.”
U’Strozz is made in over 400 shades, in both leather and fabric.
Calia Italia, U’Strozz
The Giuggiola armchair
“The Giuggiola project is the result of a wonderful experience with La Sapienza University of Rome: my lessons in the industrial design course. The students created 75 projects from which I chose one: the Giuggiola armchair. The projects were many and valid. It was the first time I talked about my experience at the university. I was fearful ... I talked for about two hours and they listened to me in silence. I was amazed!
“I chose the work of three students: the braids of their project made me think of the hard-working women of the Sassi - I have an amazing memory of them - who would gather their hair in a bun...”
The armchair, featuring an elegant tail-shaped base, comes in fixed and swivel versions and with a storage seat. Thanks to the work of over 1500 people in the Murgia area, Calia Italia produces more than 1000 seats every day, over 50 new models every year, in 40 different leather and fabric upholstery, with more than 400 color variations. From a fully automated warehouse among the largest in Europe, the comfort designed and built in Matera - an expression of craftsmanship and the company’s ability to blend modernity and tradition - now reaches over 80 countries.
Calia Italia, Giuggiola
