Milan and Copenhagen, 3rd April 2019 – B&B Italia, Flos and Louis Poulsen announce their joint participation as Design Holding at the 58th edition of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan (April 9-14). Design Holding, recently created by Investindustrial and The Carlyle Group, is the new global high-end interior design group that brings together the three iconic companies.
The companies will showcase their Collections in three distinctive areas of an all-encompassing booth designed by Calvi Brambilla, located in the new S.Project pavilion (Halls 22-24) -a crosscutting exhibition format making its debut at the Salone del Mobile. The booth is conceived to reflect the philosophy of Design Holding, by putting on stage the common narration of three strong individual identities boasting extraordinary design histories, along with their unique ability of relentlessly exploring new talents and releasing new iconic designs. All companies will demonstrate how their connection to history is still vivid, by visually relating cult pieces to stunning novelties by contemporary design masters.
B&B Italia will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary UP Series by Gaetano Pesce and it will display the Catilina chair, quintessence of Italian design by Luigi Caccia Dominioni for Azucena. Next to these evergreen icons, B&B Italia will also unveil absolute novelties by internationally acclaimed architects and visionary designers such as Michael Anastassiades, Antonio Citterio, Piero Lissoni and Vincent Van Duysen.
Flos will launch the re-edition of one of its cult designs from the Sixties, the lamp Chiara by Mario Bellini, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, and will also release the first edition of an extraordinary 1957 design by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, the Bulbo lamp. Flos will also present innovative designs and original lighting systems created by Michael Anastassiades, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Antonio Citterio, Formafantasma, Piero Lissoni, Nendo, Philippe Starck and Patricia Urquiola, to enrich its Home, Architectural and Outdoor lighting catalogues.
Louis Poulsen will highlight some of its renowned masterpieces born from the long-lasting collaborations with Danish design legends like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen and Verner Panton followed by welcoming back icons from Vilhelm Lauritzen, continuing with Christian Flindt, Øivind Slaatto and more recently with the duo GamFratesi. The grounded connection between past and present is once again made clear with a new big creative challenge: at the Milan fair Louis Poulsen will debut its first collaboration with the great Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, introducing the extraordinary OE Quasi.
Design Holding’s first exhibition at the most important and influential design fair in the world represents an ideal, noteworthy starting point for its goal to establish a leadership in high-end global design.
Piero Gandini, Chairman of Design Holding and CEO of Flos, declared:
“The idea behind Design Holding is to bring together companies that make excellence in design their founding value.
If we look at Flos, B&B Italia and Louis Poulsen, in fact, we note that, despite being different in so many respects (furniture and lamps, the “Made in Italy” concept and Danish design), they have always shared strong values such as cultural commitment and the great quality of their products. For many decades, the history of industrial design has been marked by the extraordinary icons generated by these companies through partnerships with legendary designers. I believe that this shared premise of passion and research is the ideal strategic foundation for the development of Design Holding.
This year’s great product innovations, created together with the best that the creative minds of design have to offer, are a clear testimony to this. We decided to present the three companies individually but in a single space at the Salone del Mobile precisely to show what they have in common in their past and also in their future.
It is the first step in a project that aims to bring together businesses, each with its own strong, unique nature, under a unanimous banner of international growth based on shared values and visions.
Presiding over Design Holding gives me great motivation to continue pursuing synergic programs of business development and design research at their best expression.”
About Design Holding
Design Holding is the largest global high-end design group with a European heritage.
Founded in December 2018 and jointly controlled by companies of the two leading investment groups Investindustrial and The Carlyle Group, Design Holding aims to further grow globally through acquisitions as well. Today the Group brings together a collection of powerful and complementary iconic companies: B&B Italia, Flos, Louis Poulsen and their subsidiaries.
About B&B Italia
B&B Italia (www.bebitalia.com) is the leading Italian high-end design furniture brand, globally recognised for its iconic products and technological innovation. The Company has a unique product portfolio, marketed under the B&B Italia, Maxalto and Azucena brands for furniture and Arclinea for high-end kitchens. Over the years B&B Italia has developed longstanding partnerships with world-renowned designers and architects such as Antonio Citterio, Patricia Urquiola, Naoto Fukasawa, Piero Lissoni, Gaetano Pesce and many others which have positioned the Company at the forefront of creativity, innovation and industrial know-how.
Headquartered in Novedrate (Como) - in a building designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers in 1971, the company has a total of 600 employees and a presence in more than 80 countries through 70 single-brand stores and 1000 specialised stores.
B&B Italia Group operates also in the Contract Division with complex "turnkey" realizations of furnishings and finishes in the hospitality, retail, office and nautical areas.
About Flos
Established in 1962 in Merano, Italy, Flos is recognised as a world leading lighting company, offering high-end design lamps and innovative lighting systems for the residential and architectural sectors. The company has a rich catalogue of iconic products by legendary designers including Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Tobia Scarpa, Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio, Piero Lissoni, Marcel Wanders, Konstantin Grcic, Jasper Morrison, Patricia Urquiola, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Michael Anastassiades, Vincent Van Duysen, Nendo, Formafantasma and many more.
Flos has grown significantly over more than fifty years in business, demonstrating its ongoing commitment to research and innovation in lighting, combined with a strong ability to identify new design talents.
In June 2015, FLOS acquired Italian architectural outdoor lighting company Ares and the outdoor division became the Group’s fourth production unit, alongside the historical design, architectural and custom products sectors.
Flos is today able to offer a complete range of fully integrated lighting solutions. It exports to more than 80 countries worldwide and has single-brand stores in Rome, Milan, Paris, Lyon, New York, Stockholm and Hong Kong. The brand’s creations have received numerous international awards and many of them are now featured in the permanent collections of leading international art and design museums. www.flos.com
About Louis Poulsen
Founded in 1874, the Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen creates products that encompass the duality of design and light. Every detail in the design has a purpose. Every design starts and ends with light. Louis Poulsen offers a range of lighting aimed at the commercial and domestic lighting markets, with lights and solutions for both indoor and outdoor applications. In close partnership with designers and architects like Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton, Øivind Slaatto, Alfred Homann, Oki Sato and GamFratesi, Louis Poulsen has established itself as one of the key suppliers of architectural and decorative lighting and has a global presence with dedicated showrooms in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Miami, Oslo, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Dusseldorf.
Design Holding stand coordinates:
Salone Internazionale del Mobile (9-14 April 2019)
https://www.salonemilano.it/en
Fiera Milano, Rho
S.Project Pavillion
HALL 24 - STAND C01 C21 E02 E20
Opening times:
Tue 9 to Sun 14
h. 9:30 – 18:30
For further information:
Sarah Lærke Stevens – Director, Brand & Communication, Louis Poulsen
sls@louispoulsen.dk