Renzo Frau founded Poltrona Frau in 1912 in Turin. It became a leading company in the real estate sector in the 1930s and supplied the House of Savoy, great hotels, Turin Expo 1928 spaces, and the luxurious transatlantic Rex.
At the beginning of the 1960s, the company was bought by the Nazareno Gabrielli group and moved from Turin to the Marche region, a manufacturing area specialized in leather goods. The company began working with world-famous designers and architects, including Jean-Marie Massaud, Ludovica + Roberto Palomba, and Roberto Lazzeroni.
Charme Investments acquired the company in 2005, and it became a world leader in high-end design furniture. In 2014, Charme sold the company to American group Haworth.