The "KS 1481" lemon squeezer from 1957 is one of the most famous objects belonging to the Household Division opened by Kartell in 1951. This object designed by Gino Colombini, designer and technical director of Kartell, won the prestigious Compasso d'Oro Award for its innovative shape that will be a source of inspiration for modern electric juicers. In fact, the small cover can also be used during squeezing so as not to touch the fruit with your hands, thus responding to practical and hygienic needs.

The first product of the Habitat Division is also the first plastic chair in the world: the "K 1340" (later "K 4999") children's chair by Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper, from 1964. The chair is innovative in the material and is designed with a new function: it serves to sit down but also to be a game tool. Through the simple stacking system of the chairs that allows different overlapping possibilities (the legs of one chair enter the backrest of another), children can transform the stacking operation into a game.

This chair is a great success, wins the Compasso d'Oro and the Gold Medal at the Milan Triennale and is included in the permanent collection of the MoMA in New York.

The "Universal" chair by Joe Colombo from 1967 is the first fully plastic chair in the world for adults, produced in ABS.

Its structure, with a single element seat-back and pressure-applied legs, is reminiscent of the Zanuso and Sapper children's chair. The hole, very complicated to make, is the detail that characterizes it aesthetically and is functional to an easier grip of the chair. Another aspect that makes the creation of the “Universal” difficult is represented by the choice of material, which must guarantee resistance even to the high humidity levels of the outside. For this reason, with the advancement of technologies, Kartell finds itself having to use different materials that are increasingly durable. The chair is produced until 2012 when it comes out of the catalog after 45 years.

The "Componibili" furniture, designed by Anna Castelli Ferrieri in 1967 and made of ABS, represent a new type of modular and assemblable furniture.

Far from traditional furniture, intended for specific environments with well-defined functions, the "Modular" are adaptable to all contexts and respond to the housing needs of young people of the 60s. The single element can be equipped with wheels and a door, closed on the upper side by a lid that can also be used as a tray. By means of a simple overlapping gesture you can stack more elements that are firmly anchored to each other, without screws or glue.

Today the "Componibili" are also available in two new materials: BIO and recycled.

The "Dr. Glob" chair is the first chair by Philippe Starck produced under the direction of Claudio Luti in 1988. The chair is the result of a research on the aesthetics of the material, on the surfaces and on the colors, born from the idea of making high quality and aesthetically unpublished furniture products in polymeric material. "Dr. Glob ”is the first plastic seat in the world with matt surfaces, pastel colors and sharp corners.

The “Bubble Club” sofa, awarded with the Compasso d'Oro 2001, is a 100% industrial sofa, produced in a single piece and hollow inside thanks to the rotational molding technology. Its designer, Philippe Starck, defines it as "an air sofa with a plastic skin".

It takes its name from the traditional "Club" sofa, but the shape is redesigned to be consistent with the new material. A sofa, among other things, that winks at the outdoor world and testifies how quickly the company is expanding and diversifying its collection.

The 1999 “La Marie” chair, designed by Philippe Starck, represents the starting point of the path taken by Kartell on the theme of transparent furniture. In 2002 Kartell presented its new transparent chair, again by Starck, it is called “Louis Ghost” and is destined to become an icon.

"Louis Ghost", a chic and provocative game, a rococo-style chair but completely transparent and with a precious appearance that goes well with antique furniture and classic furnishings, designed to bring lightness to the rooms without invading them.

The "Bourgie" lamp designed by Ferruccio Laviani in 2004 is an iconic product. "Bourgie" admirably combines tradition, innovation and irony. Laviani took inspiration from the lampshade on his desk, redesigning it to combine the classic appeal with plastic.

The base, in Baroque style, is made up of three decorated tops that intersect, while the large lampshade is made with a pleated effect in order to create, once switched on, a play of reflections.

The "Masters" chair designed in 2010 Philippe Starck with Eugeni Quitllet is a tribute to the masters of design. The interweaving of its backrest reveals the silhouettes of the chairs: “Series 7” by Arne Jacobsen, “Tulip Armchair” by Eero Saarinen and “Eiffel Chair” by Charles and Ray Eames. “Masters” is awarded with the Good Design Award 2010 and the Red Dot Design Award 2013.

Through the fusion of styles, the Masters chair reinterprets the three iconic chairs in a modern key that intertwine in a sinuous hybrid

The "K / Wood" armchair is part of the "Smart Wood" family, one of the most recent collections and emblem of Kartell's commitment to the sustainability of production processes and the use of raw materials with low environmental impact.

The creative idea developed by Philippe Starck starts from the choice of a natural material such as wood which is transformed by Kartell into an industrial product. Through a special patent, only a thin layer of wood worked with a mold is used that is able to bring the curvature of the panel to the limit, creating three-dimensionality and roundness that guarantee maximum comfort.

For the Smart Wod collection, Kartell has obtained FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) certification which identifies products containing wood from forests managed in a correct and responsible manner according to rigorous environmental, social and economic standards.

"AI" is a chair made with recycled material that makes use of a virtuous process that helps to clean up the environment through the reuse of industrial residues that go back to being raw materials, thus activating a system of circular economy.

This recycled material guarantees the same aesthetic quality and structural requirements of the product while reducing the emissions necessary for production. Moreover, thanks to the collaboration between Kartell, Philippe Starck and Autodesk, an American company leader in the production of 3D engineering and entertainment software, the design of "AI" is the result of the collaboration between human intelligence and artificial intelligence.

In 1958 Kartell inaugurates the Laboratory Articles Division, dedicated to the production of technical articles in plastic material, for chemical laboratories and hospitals. A first important contribution comes from Gino Colombini who rethinks one of the most usual laboratory tools: the test tube holder. Unlike the traditional support with overlapping shelves and large holes, Colombini's project overturns the instrument which looks like a grooved plate in which to insert comb support elements with curved X-shaped teeth, spaced so that tubes of different sizes could be inserted into the grooves between one tooth and the other while remaining perfectly straight. The tool is immediately functional, flexible and economical thanks to the easy grip of the test tubes and the interchangeability of the comb elements. Still present in the catalog, today in polypropylene, the rack is becoming more and more economical and stable.

In 1959 he opened the Lighting Division which also marked the beginning of a great collaboration of the company with the most famous designers, including Eugenio Gentili Tedeschi, Sergio Asti, Achille and Piergiacomo Castiglioni, Marco Zanuso. With the appearance on the market of a new methacrylate produced by Montecatini, called Vedril, Kartell starts the design of a line of lamps that follow the procedures of molding in series in methacrylate and other plastic materials. The line called "KD", or "Kartell Design", shows the company's attention to light, an integral part of the larger home furnishing project. While on the one hand we cannot speak of a real lighting contribution, on the other beautiful lamps were produced, which still illuminate our homes today. First of all three lamps by the brothers Achille and Piergiacomo Castiglioni, in particular the suspension lamp KD 6 is the first vacuum molded in opal methacrylate. The lamp consists of a globe, which diffuses the light evenly and is in turn formed by two separate hemispherical caps and an external parabola, with a diameter of 60 cm, which concentrates the light in the area of use, giving a filter softer to the surrounding environment. The globe, the parabola and the coral are inserted into the suspension and power cable and rested on the plate that directly supports the lamp holder without any type of screws or complicated devices: virtues in favor of this sophisticated project.

The same designer, Giulio Polvara, defines the bookcase as "Egyptian" because the Egyptians used to bury their masterpieces. In this case, the masterpieces of the modular bookcase, hidden just as if they were buried, are the joints inserted inside the shelves. With a structure made entirely of plastic material, the bookcase consists of six basic elements that can intersect according to different combinations. The elements are three panels and three joints. The joints fit into the shelf panels available in three different lengths and are "L", "T" and cross shaped. The bookcase is equipped with container-cubes designed by Centrokappa in primary colors that allow you to recreate a "three-dimensional Mondrian" in the home.

After the chair, the table represents the second primary element in furnishing where Kartell was able to gain experience, using a less industrialized and more reliable technology: reinforced polyester molding. In 1966 Anna Castelli Ferrieri and Ignazio Gardella were engaged in the internal restructuring of the Residence annexed to the Hotel Gritti in Venice and could not find a suitable table for that environment: hence the decision to design it themselves using polyester resin, up to that moment used in Italy only to manufacture boats, which in terms of brilliance and color rendering had nothing to envy to enamel. The designers brought their know-how by proposing a goblet-shaped structure capable of acting as a continuous perimeter support to the circular table top, connected with a metal ring to the support base, in turn consisting of an overturned goblet open on three spokes of support on the ground. The table was therefore made up of three pieces: the base, with adjustable chromed brass feet, into which a mixture of sand and resin was poured as ballast, the chalice and the top that was fitted onto the chalice as if it were a lid.

Ron Arad's “Bookworm” bookcase was born from the beginning as a metal object, a single block, heavy, unwieldy and expensive that finds it difficult to realize in the world of furniture but Kartell decides to accept the challenge of profound innovation. In 1994, the shape conceived by Arad became a bookcase produced on an industrial scale in extruded PVC. Bookworm represents the first flexible bookcase in the world that can be freely assembled according to the desired shape. This revolutionary product consists of a plastic band and bookend tablets.

When the young chemical engineer Giulio Castelli founded Kartell in 1949, he immediately had product innovation in mind, making the most of the potential offered by the available materials. The first Kartell product that already shows all the logic of the industrial system is the "K 101" ski rack. The product comes from the opportunity to use a new semi-finished product produced by Pirelli Pneumatici, the Nastrocord, a resistant and elastic sandwich tape, which is made up of two layers of canvas interspersed with a layer of rubber. The new material is used for the two bands that make up the ski rack, equipped with eyelets to attach the skis and metal buckles to be fixed to the car's gutter. The "K 101" immediately presents itself as a much more elegant product than the Marche products on the market, easy to hook and unhook with a few simple moves, it is immediately appreciated and will remain in the catalog until the end of the 60's when the limit speed on the motorway will increase, no longer allowing the use of this formidable but far too light product. The Kartell Car Accessories Division will be active until 1967 and will offer dozens of items including tow ropes, luggage straps, venetian blinds, car covers, representing the beginning of a new adventure in the history of materials and technological innovations.

ph. credit: Santi Caleca

In Italy, the post-war modernization process represents a moment of great transformation that also involves the daily lifestyle, with the motorization and entry of household appliances and televisions into homes. Thanks to the development of new materials, such as plastic, which becomes a symbol of modernity, the Italian designers interact with the industry and reinvent new furnishing types and morphologies that also concern household objects. Between 1955 and 1959, Gino Colombini designed a series of plastic household utensils for Kartell, from the traditional lemon squeezer to coffee cups. The garbage lift, designed in 1957, light and easy to handle thanks to the fun heart-shaped grip, is part of that redesign of the domestic habitat by Kartell which replaces the gray of the galvanized sheet tools with the colors and lightness of its shiny objects. and practical.

ph. credit: Santi Caleca

Amusing plastic re-editions of the garden gnomes, Attila, Napoleon and Saint-Esprit are three charismatic characters that strike for their originality and non-conformism. Produced by Kartell, they are made of painted thermoplastic technopolymer, a technologically advanced, safe, non-toxic and very resistant material and are offered in multicolor editions, or in gold and black versions. Usable both as stools and as tables, they are designed to be placed in any environment without preclusions, with sympathy and humor. Partly decorative elements and partly real furnishings, they are attentive to functionality: the gnomes' hat, in fact, is flat and circular specifically to be used as a support surface or stool and the material they are made of allows them to be easily placed both indoors and outdoors without the risk of suffering damage due to adverse weather conditions. The three Gnomes designed by Philippe Starck for the setting up of the St. Martins Lane Hotel in London were initially produced in a limited number but aroused such enthusiasm that they were included in the catalog and still produced today.

In 2008 Lorenza Luti, Marketing and Retail Director and third generation to lead the company, kicks off the "Kartell à la mode" project which will win the Italia Oggi Marketing Awards and which once again confirms the mix of values Kartell with aesthetic research and fashion, which in turn goes beyond the very concept of trend. In a short time, a real Division was born from the project with a precise distribution logic. From this project the line of ballet flats in plastic material "Glue Cinderella" is developed first, which has that formal characteristic that makes them soft and comfortable shoes, as well as particularly avant-garde for the use of bi-injection molding which also allows to obtain the two-tone. Designed by the young designer .normaluisa, the dancers are immediately in full harmony with Kartell values. Over time, the company will also start a collaboration with Moschino, increasing the collection with Bow Wow dancers and diversifying into accessories, sandals, boots and bags. Kartell à la mode chooses an aesthetic guided by color and lightness with novelties for each season that however last over the years precisely because they retain an identity that combines fashion, trend, and timeless design.

Carbon has existed for many and many years but Kartell invents a new use for it. The “Piuma” chair is a revolutionary product, one of the most daring in the evolution of technologies and materials used. Made of a composite material, this is the first time that a material containing carbon fiber has been injection molded. With a minimum thickness of a few millimeters (maximum 2mm), the beauty of this seat lies precisely in its lightness (just 2.2 kg). As subtle as it is incredibly resistant, Piuma can be placed anywhere and is also suitable for outdoor use.

Uncle Jack is the revolutionary sofa in transparent polycarbonate made with a single mold which with its 190cm width and 30 kg weight represents the most daring example in the world of injection technology, as well as the full expression of transparency, pure expression of Kartell identity.