Flos
An old-timer in the game of lighting, but no-where near old-thinking, Flos has since day one always been committed to innovation and pushing boundaries to reinvent the idea of lighting.
Founded in 1962 in the town Merano, Italy, some of Flos' earliest designs are to this day still in production. It all started with the Castiglioni brothers and Scarpa duo designing the Taraxacum and Fantasma lamps, followed shortly after with many other amazing designs. In 1963 they relocated to Brescia, an industrial and forward thinking region of Italy, where they remain today. At the same time Sergio Gandini began managing the company with the vision that their endeavours and creative fantasy could co-exist, resulting in a long line of progressive lighting. Flos' values and progressive thinking have been a priority since the very beginning, which they've stayed true to throughout the years.
It really took off for Flos when they participated in the show "Italy: the New Domestic Landscape" at MoMa in 1972. Several of their items were featured in the show, most of them created by the Castiglioni brothers. From here on, Flos was recognized as an international avant-garde company and their popularity would only grow.
Flos works with an array of cutting edge master designers. They believe in giving the designers free rein to let their creative minds really get to work and to experiment and seek out new ideas. To Flos, no effort is ever wasted. All they ask of their partners and designers is that they strive for excellence.
One of them being Phillipe Starck. Also a pioneer within lighting and design, who contributed further more in putting Flos on the design map. In the mid 80's Giandini met the young Starck. He was intrigued by Starck's design, Arà, and accepted to manufacture it. Nothing like it had been done before, but Giandini saw potential in Starck's visions and decided to mass-produce another of his designs for a hotel in New York, using plastic, a non-controversial material for lighting fixtures at that time. It has since become an iconic table lamp and later got the name Miss Sissi.
Sustainability is at the heart of everything Flos does. They work tirelessly on improving their products, making them more sustainable. Both in terms of material and lighting components used, as well as making them easy to disassemble once their life is up so they can be recycled. Flos is also committed to making their packaging completely sustainable, reducing their carbon footprint and improving the production process. The MayDay for instance was recently given an outdoor sibling. It is produced in a sustainable polypropylene recovered from industrial scrap and assembled entirely without glue so that each part can be recycled. This is an outdoor lamp designed to respect the outdoors. If you are interested in reading more about Flos' sustainability initiative you can do so here.
Flos produces design classics. Many of the items date back to the very beginning and remain in production today. Take the 265 designed by Paolo Rizzatto in 1973 as an example. It has been in production in black and white for years, but was just re-launched in what one would think is a "new colourway". This is however the original colour palette that Rizzatto imagined, where each colour clarifies the various functions of the lamp. It is now re-introduced in this original colourway with the name Chromatica added as an homage to Paolo Rizzatto's original design idea.
Have you ever wondered where the name Flos come from? Flos means flower in latin, and they have certainly blossomed during their 60 years in business!