Flos
Founded in Merano in 1962, Flos offers a wide range of products of indoor and outdoor lamps, with the aim of creating fully furnished environments both in shape and essence. The desire for innovation has allowed Flos to develop a series of technological skills over time, in addition to giving them a boost towards bold choices.
The experiments have never been lacking, since the beginning; in the 1950s, the two founders Dino Gavina and Cesare Cassina inserted the cocoon into production, thanks to the collaboration with Arturo Eisenkeil. The latter, a small producer of Merano, is inspired by the curious use of the cocoon resin seen in the United States and decides to use it on metal lampshades. Another important collaboration of this period is that with Castiglioni brothers.
In the 1960s the headquarters moved to Brescia under the leading of Sergio Gandini, who decided together with Cassina to try the international experience.The 1980s saw the involvement of a growing number of designers. In particular, the collaboration with Philippe Starck leads to a great turning point: his creation Miss Sissi Flos becomes in a few days one of the best-selling products ever. The 1990s are marked by the need to create products with new lines, able to communicate through innovative languages: the brand starts towards the creation of expressive objects, able to assert its own identity. This is materialized by the collaboration with Jasper Morrison, who creates the Glo-Ball collection. The family concept begins to express itself linked to the mass production of elements distinguished by type of use, but still recognizable among them.
Finally, the new millennium meets the application of LED technology. Among the pendent lamps the one with the most daring design is String Light Flos by Michael Anastassiades and Arrangements: inspired by the concept of light as a jewel. Among the proposals, the Flos catalog offers also table lamps: Snoopy was created by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni being inspired by the dog of the comic strips by Charles M. Schulz. The clean and elegant design of Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni manifests itself perfectly through Arco, the floor lamp designed in 1962 that still seduces with its finely slender and almost immaterial shape.