Creativity and technology, glamour and functionality, quality and innovation: a combination of extraordinary factors together with a strategic vision of distribution has contributed to the lasting success of Kartell. A leader in design, Kartell addresses an international clientele with a collection unique in originality, variety, size and range. The products are multifunctional and cross-sectional, easy-to-use and with undeniable visual appeal. Colours, irony, a feast for the senses, transparency effects and unique shapes for unique items: Kartell items are immediately recognized throughout the world for their emotional character, durable functionality and undisputed quality. Continual evolution in the use of materials and experimentation with new technology aimed at discovering their hidden qualities, are fundamental for the development of Kartell products, both in terms of research and functional performance as well as for new aesthetic qualities. Thanks to such continued research it has been possible to introduce satin finishing, transparency effects, flexibility, weather resistance, softness and texture.
Collaborating with Kartell are world famous designers including Ron Arad,  Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Anna Castelli Ferrieri, Antonio Citterio, Michele De Lucchi, Patrick Jouin, Ferruccio Laviani, Piero Lissoni, Vico Magistretti, Alberto Meda, Enzo Mari, Paolo Rizzatto, Maarten Van Severen, Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola and Marcel Wanders. It is a creative team which, together with Kartell, has developed a special intuition through dialogue and the continual exchange of design ideas. This has served to establish a perfect equilibrium between the designers’ project experience, their ability and the demands of the company. In its 58 years of existence, Kartell has won prestigious international awards including 9 Gold Compass awards, the most recent being for the Mobil chest of drawers in 2000 and the Bubble Club sofa in 2001. Today Kartell exports 75% of its products to 96 countries worldwide. Currently, Kartell has over 100 flagship stores and 150 shop-in-shops and Kartell products can be bought at more than 4,000 points of sale. Lasting success and a daring challenge on the market combine with the continual desire to innovate and reinvent.  

Flag stores

A unique flag store is the principle tool for brand communication. The Kartell flag stores are the places of choice. Together with the product, they are dedicated to communicating the company philosophy and values. At the same time they illustrate Kartell’s own peculiar interpretation of the needs of living spaces to the worldwide consumer public. In Milan, just as in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong and Sao Paolo, Kartell’s image is consistently strong. The Kartell flags are recognisable spaces inside diverse urban fabrics where the underlying theme of the products becomes their very identity. The Kartell flag stores are neutral vessels designed to show off these products at their very best, to acclaim them and make them desirable. They are vessels in which the products, arranged on large, brightly-lit platforms, take centre stage with their colours and eye-catching silhouette. Meanwhile, this system of exhibition succeeds in underlining and acclaiming the quality of the materials, whilst illustrating the brand concept and making it apparent.
The strength of the concept comes from the simplicity and the repeatability of this idea. It is a recipe for success, a global and international formula which is immune to the confines of national borders and which stretches from the United States to Europe, from the Far East to Australia, earning the plaudits of those who matter most:  the consumers.
In 2007, Kartell opened 20 Flagstores in the most beautiful cities in the world, from Beijing to Dubai, from Warsaw to Marseilles, confirming the expansion of its distribution network and brand image throughout Europe, China, the Middle East and South America, rapidly growing markets that love design, perfection, creativity and the artistic excellence of Made in Italy.

Communication

The Kartell brand has been set apart as a “hallmark of design”, a success demonstrated by the international interest in organizing events which entail both its history and its present. This is the result of valuable communication efforts combined with the international growth of its distribution network. Kartell is a protagonist in exhibitions, stand fittings and events in the world’s major cities: Milan, New York, Hong Kong, Paris, London without the limitations of borders. Kartell has a museum to recall its history, a vital tool for communicating its identity. A history of more than 50 years is retold in 1000 articles, exhibits in chronological order over an area of 2000m and in different modes of interpretation: design, communication, displays and technology. The Kartell museum was awarded the Guggenheim Prize in 2000 for the best industrial museum and its collections have been requested and exhibited at the Centre Pompidou, at the Kunsthalle in Bonn, the Triennale in Milan and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. To recall its present, Kartell turns particular attention to communication conveyed through books, events and stand fittings. Amongst the numerous publications, the kARTell book is an extraordinary collection of more than 150 interpretations of Kartell articles through the eyes of prestigious photographers, contemporary artists and writers, collected into a special compilation edited by Skira Editore and achieved with the contribution of Franca Sozzani, Director of Vogue Italia. Among the various authors: Helmut Newton, David LaChapelle, Peter Lindbergh, Fabrizio Ferri, Bruce Weber, Maurizio Cattelan and Vanessa Beecroft. 150 photos illustrate the value of iconic design and the unquestioned harmony which has been created between design, fashion, art and photography. The Triennale has seen fit to capture all of this in an exhibition.
In the year 2007, the “Mademoiselle à la mode” event represented the successful combination of fashion and design, transforming the Paris, Milan, New York and Sao Paolo Flagstores in ideal catwalks, thanks to the creative display, specifically designed for the occasion.
Kartell communicates above all through its products. New exhibit stands which are ever more grand and spectacular, with strong visual impact, are overseen by Ferruccio Laviani, to recall design, research, innovation, new fads and their results at every turn. There are spaces which allow you to forget the outside world for a few minutes and undergo a unique experience, concentrating on the sensation given by the stand displays and by the products. All the Kartell flagship stores meticulously oversee their stand and window displays and the contents are renewed and updated periodically by designs with strong impact and grand appeal. In a globalised world it is precisely the brand value and the way in which it is sets the company apart from the rest. It is precisely this spirit of enterprise which makes Kartell so globally competitive.


Claudio Luti - President of Kartell

Born in Milan, Claudio Luti earned a degree in Economics from the Cattolica University. After a brief stint at a well known accounting firm in 1975, Mr. Luti set out on his own where he began working in the fashion industry adding many designers to his portfolio.
In 1975, Milan began to boom as a fashion capital. It was then in 1977 that Mr. Luti began working with Gianni Versace. After serving as the accountant and manager for a brief period, Mr. Luti became the Managing Director of the now famous fashion label. He brilliantly led Gianni Versace Spa for ten years working closely with the designer himself.
Claudio Luti left Versace in 1988 to purchase Kartell, the company he now owns and runs as CEO. Having entered Kartell during a time of temporary “fatique”, within just a few years he rejuvenated the company and products back to their original lustre through aggressive expansion (100 Flagship stores in 96 countries) and the use of outstanding designers such as Philippe Starck.
Knowing Kartell’s true spirit and their technological abilities, Mr. Luti was able to break plastic free from its “cheap” connotation and transform it into something luxurious.