Creativity and technology, glamour and functional, quality and innovation: A combination of these extraordinary factors together with a strategic distribution vision has helped to confirm Kartell’s success. As a leading design company, Kartell offers the international public a unique collection marked by originality, variety and an extensive range. Its 60 years of history is masterfully told through all of its goods, which express the language and atmosphere of the period they were created in, but at the same time are contemporary objects containing many other values and messages. All this has made them integral parts of the domestic scene. The goods are multipurpose and transversal, easy to use and have undoubted aesthetic appeal. Colour, irony, play of the senses, transparencies and unique shapes produce unique objects: As soon as they are seen Kartell goods are recognisable anywhere in the world, because of the excitement they stir up, their long-lasting functionality and undisputed quality. Ongoing evolution in use of the materials and experimentation with new technologies aimed at discovering new properties are essential for the development of Kartell goods, both as regards research into functional performances and development of new aesthetic qualities. Thanks to this ongoing research, it has been possible to introduce satin finish, clarity, flexibility, resistance to atmospheric agents, softness and a pleasing feel. Internationally famous designers such as Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Anna Castelli Ferrieri, Antonio Citterio, Michele De Lucchi, Patrick Jouin, Ferruccio Laviani, Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders e Tokujin Yoshioka, Vico Magistretti, Alberto Meda, Enzo Mari, Paolo Rizzatto and Maarten Van Severen have collaborated or are collaborating with Kartell. It is a creative team which has created a particular feeling with Kartell through dialogue and ongoing exchange of ideas on projects until a perfect balance has been struck between their design experience and the company’s potentialities and requirements. The company’s business is divided into two main lines: Labware or laboratory items, and Habitat, dedicated to furnishings, home décor and lighting (successfully brought back into the product range in 2000). Today Kartell exports 75% of its sales to 96 countries around the world. In over 60 years in business, Kartell has won an enviable series of prestigious international awards, including the Compassi d’Oro nine times (most recently for the Mobil chest of drawers in 1995 and the Bubble Club sofa in 2001). In addition, the Kartell Museum was named the “Best Company Museum” by the Guggenheim Museum in 2000.
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