Alessi (company)

Infobox Company
company_name = Alessi S.p. A.
company_
company_type = privately held
foundation = 1921
location = Crusinallo, Italy
key_people = Carlo Alessi, Ettore Alessi, Alberto Alessi
industry = Product Design
products = household goods
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees = 501
parent =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.alessi.com/ www.alessi.com]
footnotes =

Alessi is an Italian kitchenware company. Its designs of everyday and household items are generally created in colorful plastics and stainless steel. Alessi contracts a selection of celebrity architects and designers to create its designs.

From the 1980s, Alessi are particularly associated with the notion of "designer" objects - otherwise ordinary tools and objects executed as high design, particularly in a post-modern mode, from designers such as Philippe Starck. Most of the memorable "designer kettles," "designer toothbrushes," "designer graters" and so on were Alessi products.

History

Alessi was founded in 1921 to produce crafted products in metal for eating and drinking, by Giovanni Alessi. In 1935, Carlo Alessi (born 1916), son of Giovanni, was named chief designer. In 1945 he ascended to chief executive and designed the coffee service "Bombé", an industrial piece manufactured in four sizes. That same year Carlo's younger brother, Ettore Alessi, joined the company as a technician.

By the 1980s, Alberto Alessi took over the management of Alessi (which he still does today) and launched the Alessi company into the design decade through collaborations with designers and architects such as Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass, Richard Sapper, and Achille Castiglioni. In 2004 Alessi launched the Tea & Coffee Towers, with a new generation of architects such as Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, Tom Kovac, Greg Lynn, MVRDV, Jean Nouvel, and UN Studio.

Among the best known of the company's product range are Richard Sapper's kettle with a two-tone whistle, Michael Graves' kettle with the bird shaped whistle, Massimo Giacon's Mr Suicide, and Philippe Starck's playful three-legged Juicy Salif citrus squeezer.

In 2006, the company reclassified its products under three lines: A di Alessi (products with lower price points), Alessi (the main collection) and Officina Alessi (the most experimental and limited edition pieces). 2006 also saw the opening of Alessi's first New York City flagship store in SoHo.

Designers

A selection of famous designers and architects who have worked for Alessi:
* Norman Foster
* Future Systems
* Achille Castiglioni
* Frank Gehry
* Michael Graves
* Zaha Hadid
* Hans Hollein
* Toyo Ito
* Charles Jencks
* Greg Lynn
* Richard Meier
* Alessandro Mendini
* Jasper Morrison
* MVRDV
* Jean Nouvel
* Aldo Rossi
* Richard Sapper
* Ettore Sottsass
* George Sowden
* Philippe Starck
* Marc Newson

External links

* [http://www.alessi.com Alessi web page.]