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"Luminous Art & Design :: Art & Artists"
Alessi :: Biography and Books"
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Alessi is an Italian family-rum company that produces household items in collaboration with celebrity designers and architects. The products are known as creative, humorous, practical in use, and of a high quality.
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Alessi is an Italian family-run company that produces everyday domestic and kitchen appliances since 1921. Alessi household items are known for their playful designs by celebrity designers and architects.
The Italian design factory Alessi started out as a ‘Workshop for the working of brass and nickel silver plates, with foundry’. Giovanni Alessi was a talented sheet-metal worker and hand produced objects for the home in copper, brass and nickel silver. Giovanni’s son, Carlo Alessi, was trained n industrial design and became design chief of the company in 1932. Most of the designs, made from then until the Second World War, were his responsibility and often produced by himself on an in-house basis. Giovanni’s younger son Ettore joined the company in 1945.
During the war, business in household goods was slow and Alessi produced other metal objects as stars for uniforms. After the war the company expanded and started mass-production to meet new demands. In 1954, Ettore Alessi started to collaborate with external designers as Anselmo Vitale and Luigi Massoni, who were employed on a consultancy basis. This resulted in a range of products for the catering trade that became big sellers.
Alberto Alessi, son of Carlo and grandson of Giovanni, became general manager of the company in 1970. He worked together with world’s best known designers and architects to transform the metalwork factory into a design powerhouse. Celebrities as Salvador Dali, Aldo Rossi, and Philippe Starck were contacted to turn household items into pieces of art.
Since the 1980s, the company has been internationally known for their highly fashionable products by leading designers. Alessi started to use new materials, as plastics, wood, crystal, and porcelain. Brightly colored plastic designs are now Alessi’s trademark. Alessi’s designs are now known as creative, humorous, practical in use, and of a high quality. Some of the popular products of Alessi are Massimo Giacon’s Mr. Suicide Bathtub Plug, Richard Sapper's kettle with a two-tone whistle, Michael Graves' kettle with the bird shaped whistle, and the best know product is without doubt Philippe Starck's Juicy Salif lemon squeezer.
Alessi also started to collaborate with other manufacturers to create products ranging from household textiles to telephones. Examples are watches for Seiko, cordless telephones for Siemens, razors for Philips, and bathtubs for Laufen. Alessi even worked with Italian auto maker Fiat to produce the Fiat Panda Alessi.
Alessi designs are now available to everyone. The products are classified in three different lines. Officina Alessi, is a range of expensive and experimental pieces that are only produced in limited editions of no more than 2,000 pieces. Alessi, is the main collection with medium priced mass-produced items. And then there is A di Alessi, the products for everyone. These are affordable products that are mainly made of plastic. The designs are instant classics and often are bought as collectable items of good design. The Alessi products are available in Alessi Flagship stores, multi-brand stores, through catalogues, exhibitions and online. Alessi also opened a museum, in Crusinallo, housing a massive collection of Alessi products.
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