Kartell

Italy

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Brand Story

Heritage

Kartell was founded in Milan in 1949 by Giulio Castelli, a young chemical engineer who wanted to produce "objects that had innovative characteristics, understood as an application of new production technologies, geared towards economy of materials and efficiency of process". The company began with automobile accessories and moved into home furnishings in 1963. Its covered bucket KS 1146 won the Compasso d'Oro in 1955, the first of many awards, and designers such as Gino Colombini, Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper, Joe Colombo and Anna Castelli Ferrieri shaped its early plastic furniture, including the Componibili modular units.

Philosophy

Kartell calls itself a design company built on constant dialogue between the entrepreneur and the designer. Its stated aims are to design and produce objects that will not suffer from the passage of time, to use technology such as injection moulding to work better and faster, and to make beauty sustainable, a commitment set out in its manifesto "Kartell loves the planet".

Image source: Kartell · © Kartell and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official website ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Iconic Works

Under President Claudio Luti, the catalogue opened to designers including Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio, Vico Magistretti, Ron Arad and Ferruccio Laviani. From 1999, with La Marie, Kartell brought transparent polycarbonate into furniture: Louis Ghost, Ghost Buster, Mr Impossible and the Invisible Table followed, and in 2014 the Uncle Jack sofa set a record as the largest single transparent polycarbonate moulding in the furnishing sector.

Today

Kartell is headquartered in Noviglio, near Milan, where its plant also houses the Kartell Museo, founded in 1999 for the company's 50th anniversary and awarded the Guggenheim Business & Culture Prize in 2000. A family business now involving its third generation, it sells through its own stores, an official online shop and independent retailers worldwide.