'Severance' Is a Vintage Furniture Collector’s Fever Dream

In episode 7 of Severance season 2, there is a split-second shot showing a round, white vanity in Gemma’s (Dichen Lachman) suite on the Testing Floor. Was that what I thought it was? I lunged for the remote and rewound. My suspicion was confirmed: It was the Luigi Massoni Dilly Dally, a coveted modular vanity from the ‘60s that looks like something Polly Pocket would own. (I know this because I had once inquired about purchasing one from a vintage furniture dealer on Instagram. Alas, it was a whopping $7,000... but a girl can dream.)

As the corporate dystopia drama rounds out its second season, eagle-eyed fans have taken to spotting pieces of vintage furniture featured in the show, flexing their design knowledge on TikTok and Reddit. "The Instagram brain rot girlies all screamed when we saw the DILLY DALLY," reads a comment on such a video. The Luigi Massoni vanity in particular has long been a niche obsession among the chronically online Pinterest crowd, its allure evident in the countless dupes found on Amazon and AliExpress.

For Jeremy Hindle, the Apple TV+ show’s production designer, furniture played a central role in shaping the world and mythology of the fictional workplace. “Lumon is a massive pharmaceutical company with deep pockets,” Hindle shares with Marie Claire. “They are rich in history and design. They love the best and want the best.”

From the outset, the production team wanted to find “particular, generally unknown” pieces. They reached out to Margaret Schwartz of New York-based Modern Antiquarian to purchase one of her Italian-sourced Dilly Dally vanities. “It’s not unusual for set design teams to purchase or rent items from my business,” Schwartz says via email. She describes the experience of being featured in the episode, titled “Chikhai Bardo,” as “particularly rewarding” because the Dilly Dally vanity is such an “iconic design.” Its cameo in Severance has only increased demand—this blue one sold on 1st Dibs just three days after the episode aired.

At the top of Hindle’s wishlist, though, were two ‘60s Braun pieces designed by Dieter Rams: a TV and a stereo unit.

“I wanted it so bad,” Hindle says, referring to the TV. “We had it loaned to us from the [Braun] museum in Berlin. We had a props person jump on a plane to collect it.” The TV found its place in the “Christmas” room that Gemma visits, where she is forced to write thank you notes in Betty Draper cosplay attire. Like the TV, Gemma’s suffering is a form of entertainment for the sick and twisted Dr. Mauer.

The wall-mounted Braun stereo unit in Gemma’s suite is another furniture grail. It plays music in the background, winding up the scene's tension until Gemma can smack her captor with a chair and make a run for it.

Design nerds immediately clocked the piece, known for its rarity and museum-level quality (the MoMa in New York has one in their permanent collection). The stereo unit used in the show was sourced from Garrett Guanella, founder of LA-based Basa Vintage.

Guanella explains the appeal of the unit to Marie Claire: “Its rarity comes down to the fact that the full unit was never sold to the general public, only the individual parts [...] the unit was a custom piece in Rams' own office.” Over the course of his career, Guanella has only assembled and sold around five full stereo units, each selling for around $30,000 to $35,000.

Sourcing the stereo unit was one thing, but getting it assembled and functional was another. Guanella guided the set design team—who purchased one of Guanella’s stereo units in 2023— through the installation, mounting, and hertz modification over FaceTime calls.

Since season 2 has aired, Guanella has observed a spike of interest in Basa Vintage and the audio pieces they specialize in. “In the bubble that I’m in, everyone knows about it. But the show has definitely given Dieter Rams and these stereo units a lot more exposure,” he says.

In total, the production team sourced hundreds of pieces for the show—a massive logistical feat. “We are shipping pieces from all over the world. The Scarpa hanging wooden lamps in the Damona birthing retreat cabin came from Italy,” Hindle adds. Most pieces are purchased outright, but some are long-term rentals or loans from museums.

Hindle’s goal is to “create a world that’s familiar, yet not anywhere you have seen or been.” Surrounding the innies with rare collectibles that they can’t recognize while viewers can ultimately adds to the layered uncanny landscape of Severance and the corporate cruelty at play.

Sure, Lumon may be evil, but they have impeccable taste in furniture.