How do you turn something you use on a daily basis, into something iconic and super cool to have in any place? Just ask Alessi, the world famous brand founded in 1921 by Giovanni Alessi.
The firm began as a workshop in Valle Strona in the Italian Alps near Switzerland and started by producing a wide range of tableware items in nickel, chromium and silver-plated brass. The intention was to produce hand-crafted items with the aid of machines.
When Carlo Alessi, son of Giovanni, was named chief designer, the word ‘design’ started to penetrate every single item they produced, emphasizing the importance of aesthetics in people’s minds.
During the 1950s and 1960s, one of the Alessi’s, Ettore Alessi, started collaborating with external designers, adding a number of varied creative minds and ideas to their already quite quirky product line, resulting in an even stronger and richer sense of design.
Alessi products also began appearing at international expos and showrooms, conquering people’s hearts. This is still going on today, and let’s face it, who doesn’t love them?
Take the Alessi Kettles for instance, which have undoubtedly become some of the most recognizable kitchen ware items in the world. The most well known one must be that by designer Michael Graves.
Adding sophistication and naughtiness to a simple kettle that most people have in their kitchens, Graves transformed an otherwise unnoticeable item into something marvelous and full of life. This is truly design with heart.
Another must-have in any chic household is the Anna G. corkscrew by Alessandro Mendini in 1994. It is one of Alessi’s best sellers and an iconic product, which led to many other similarly inspired kitchen items being produced. With this product, Alessi achieved a higher level of adding fun design to mundane daily tools we use in our lives, giving life and emotion to the dead tools we need.
The revolutionary Juicy Salif citrus-squeezer by Philippe Starck was also an ace for Alessi. It was designed in the 1990s and caused quite a stir, ultimately becoming a symbol for both Alessi and Starck.
Alessi plays around the edges but never forgets the purpose of a utensil. It turns a simple lifeless tool into something hysterical, amusing, sophisticated and contemporary for any place. This year, Alessi has presented the new “Super & Popular” range, a collection of little masterpieces of design, representing some of the best projects in the history of the brand. The collection also aims to build up consciousness about the link between heritage and modernity, where tradition and technology merge into something contemporary and unconventional that is almost eternal. Definitely a matter of design.