Flos

Heritage

Flos (Latin for "flower") was founded in Merano in 1962 as a small workshop experimenting with new materials, born of the collaboration of Dino Gavina and Cesare Cassina with Arturo Eisenkeil, importer of a sprayable polymer coating called cocoon. From the start it worked with Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Tobia Scarpa. In 1964 the company moved to Bovezzo, near Brescia, where it is still based.

Philosophy

Flos treats a lamp as an object of design and technology at once, and has long introduced unexpected materials and ideas into lighting. Its lamps are in the permanent collections of museums such as MoMA, the Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Triennale di Milano.

Iconic Works

• Arco, Taccia, Toio and Snoopy by the Castiglioni brothers
• Parentesi (Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzù), Flos's first Compasso d'Oro (1979)
• Gino Sarfatti's designs, from the 1974 acquisition of Arteluce
• Philippe Starck's Ara and Miss Sissi; Jasper Morrison's Glo-Ball; Michael Anastassiades' IC Lights and Arrangements

Today

Flos runs decorative, architectural and outdoor lighting and has received eight Compassi d'Oro. Since December 2018 it is part of the Flos B&B Italia Group, with B&B Italia and Louis Poulsen, owned by Investindustrial and Carlyle.