Not found what you were looking for?
We can deliver all products from this manufacturer. Please contact us at 031 981 40 67
or service@smow.ch to discuss your specific product request.
The history of the Italian design manufacturer Kartell begins in 1949 with the company's founding by chemist Giulio Castelli. From the very beginning production was focused on plastic products, initially automotive parts, subsequently laboratory equipment and household utensils, before designer furniture and lighting were added in the 1960s.
► Kartell Outdoor: Design Classics for Outdoors
► Kartell Design Today: New Furniture with New Materials
► Kartell Design - A Product Portfolio with a Wide Price Range
► Collaborations with International Star Designers
► Top 5 Kartell Design Classics
► Awards for Legendary Collections
The H.H.H. Chairs from Kartell
Kartell brings a breath of fresh air to the outdoor sector with designer furniture that will brighten up the summer: For example the H.H.H. chairs in seductive colours and the A.I. Outdoor Lounge Chair with a soft cushion, designed by Philippe Starck.
The Battery cordless lamp, which has been available in new colours since 2024 – including pastel orange, pastel pink, light blue, rose green, orange green, and mint green – ensures atmospheric summer evenings. The Trix Outdoor modular sofa is perfect for relaxing hours or a spontaneous nap in the garden. With the A.I. Stool Recycled you can stylishly transform your outdoor space into a garden bar or beach bar. While for large family gatherings, or your next garden party, the Generic C Outdoor Chair is the easy choice – weatherproof, easy to clean, and stackable.
The A.I. Outdoor Lounge Chair by Philippe Stark for Kartell
A comfortable lounger by the pool: the Kartell Trix Outdoor sofa
Kartell furniture accompanies you all year round – both indoors and outdoors. Whether in the warm spring sunshine or in the fresh sea breeze: with Kartell you can enjoy stylish design outdoors. Those who love metal will find what they're looking for in the outdoor furniture of the Hiray Collection, a collection characterised by its light, airy wire structure that is perfect by the pool or on a terrace with a sea view.
Kabuki lamp, Hiray side table and the Colonna stool
For those looking for an alternative feeling, Kartell also offers iconic outdoor design classics crafted from plastic: Looking for a stylish outdoor living room? With the Bubble Club Sofa and the matching Bubble Club Table the answer is as comfortable as it is inviting. And because every detail counts: the AHA Stool offers a practical place to rest your cocktail — or serve as additional seating for spontaneous guests.
Masters chairs and Four table
Kartell is today a third-generation family business, managed by Claudio Luti, his daughter Lorenza and son Federico. New product lines such as outdoor furniture and lighting are being launched, and innovative developments in technology and materials are continually being pursued.
In 2020 alone Kartell launched three new eco-friendly product lines, including the first chair made from 100 percent recycled material: the A.I. by Philippe Starck.
The Kartell Smart Wood series from 2019 is the manufacturer's first wooden product line manufactured using innovative 3D technology: advanced manufacturing methods that demonstrate Kartell's commitment not only to creating aesthetically pleasing products, but also to exploring new manufacturing avenues and utilising innovative technologies.
Today Kartell's product range extends to numerous seating furniture, tables, lighting, storage items, and home accessories. And while many Kartell products offer practical, stylish, and affordable furnishing solutions, others are of particular interest for discerning design lovers, including, for example, the upholstered furniture collections and shelving systems. The stylish Kartell lighting by designers such as Philippe Starck and Rodolfo Dordoni also ranges in style from minimalist to neo-baroque, offering the perfect lighting solution for diverse interior design styles and budgets.
For those who love particularly luxurious and shiny furniture Kartell has developed the Kartell Metallic Collection: a selection of iconic Kartell designs presented in the sparkling metallic tones of copper, gold, and chrome, ensuring guaranteed eye-catchers in any interior design, especially when mixed with well-considered lighting. The Kartell Metallic Collection also includes the Kartell Masters Chair, one of numerous Kartell chairs that, thanks to their plastic material, can be used both indoors and outdoors.
The Kartell chair collection includes Kartell desk chairs, such as the Spoon Chair, and high-quality dining chairs, such as the Q/Wood with its signature seat shell crafted from wafer-thin 3D beechwood veneer.
The Q/Wood armchair demonstrates that Kartell design is no longer limited to plastic products: In addition to recycled plastic, classic textiles, wood, and metal are now also employed.
Victoria Ghost Chair through Kartell
Kartell Componibili with new colours
Piuma Chair and Kabuki Floor from Kartell
Battery table lamp
Teresa Special Edition lamp
Crucial to Kartell's current identity was the succession of Claudio Luti, son-in-law of Giulio and Anna Castelli, to the company's leadership in 1988. Luti, who had served as Managing Director at Versace for a decade, brought a new perspective and vitality to the company and began extensive collaborations with international design giants.
The Kartell portfolio is created in collaboration with international designers such as Patricia Urquiola, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Ferruccio Laviani, Ron Arad, Mario Bellini, Marcel Wanders or Philippe Starck. Collaborations that have proven to be fruitful and productive for the designers and the company for decades and continue to produce innovative futuristic products that explore the limits of plastic and design. These connections are often very long-lasting, as like in the case of Philippe Starck Kartell and its designers accompany each other on their careers for years.
Be Bop chair and the stool/side table Prince Aha through Kartell
Dr. NO
Hiray chair
Kartell has been producing groundbreaking designer furniture made of plastic for more than 70 years and has revolutionized design with futuristic shapes, ironic, trendy elements and intense colours and has always demonstrated that tastes are different. And product lines were created that maintain their relevance and popularity to this day. Here, by way of an introduction, five of the most famous Kartell furniture classics.
Louis Ghost
Kartell Louis Ghost: French designer and architect Philippe Starck has designed numerous seating pieces for Kartell since the 1990s, including the virtually transparent Kartell Louis Ghost chair, which has become an icon of contemporary design. The Louis Ghost is accompanied by other matching Kartell Ghost furniture, such as the Kartell bar stool Charles Ghost. In its crystal clear colour it is virtually invisible.
Componibili
Kartell Container Componibili: The Componibili collection is one of Kartell's trademarks. Designed in 1968 by Anna Castelli Ferrieri, it is a series of practical storage containers in trendy colours that fit well in bathrooms, bedrooms or sofa corners and which can be combined with other modular.
Cindy
Kartell table lamp Cindy: The table lamp Cindy is just one of several striking lamp designs that Ferruccio Laviani designed for Kartell. The combination of metallic colours and the classic table lamp shape is an example of the Kartell design, which is often seasoned with subtle irony.
Masters
Kartell Chair Masters: Philippe Starck & Eugeni Quitllet have created with the Masters Chair another contemporary design classic. The versatile indoor and outdoor chair impresses with its sophisticated, conceptual design idea and organic, elegant shape.
Bookworm
Kartell Bookworm wall shelf: A quintessential Kartell design classic from the 90s is the Bookworm bookshelf by Ron Arad: With its original curved shape, Bookworm resembles a wall sculpture and fits as perfectly into the Kartell portfolio as it does it any space.
Louis Ghost
Kabuki lamp
Over the years Kartell has been honoured with numerous international awards, including the Compasso d'Oro nine times and the Guggenheim Enterprise and Culture Award in 2000 for the Kartell Museum, founded in 1999, as best corporate museum. In addition to its flagship store in Tokyo, Kartell has recently presented extensive trade fair representations in Moscow, Shanghai and Stockholm, further expanding its international success.
Under the motto "Kartell Loves the Planet", Kartell has taken a decisive path towards sustainability. A corporate sustainability code is intended to ensure that 11 of the 17 development goals proposed by the United Nations can be achieved in the future. The topic of sustainable materials now determines all production decisions so that environmental impact can be reduced to a minimum. For this purpose, Kartell only uses FSC-certified wood and uses a plastic in its organic collection that is based on agricultural production waste and is biodegradable. In addition, waste materials from its own production are processed into recyclate, which in turn is used in furniture production. In this way, Kartell is taking a significant step towards a circular economy and saving valuable emissions. The exclusive use of Polycarbonate 2.0, which combines a second-generation renewable polymer based on cellulose and paper waste with an ISCC-certified process, underlines Kartell's innovative strength in terms of sustainable solutions. Through this comprehensive commitment, Kartell makes a significant contribution to promoting a responsible and future-proof orientation in the furniture industry.
Kartell Louis Ghost chairs
In the exhibtion A Chair and You at the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig, there is more than A Chair and You can look at them, study them, explore them, converse with them. But not sit on them. In the presentation Stühle zum (Be)Sitzen on the first...
"Plastic was equivalent with America for us. Only Bakelite came from Europe. Right? But after the war, everything plastic came to Italy from the States. Purely commercial stuff, but every year a new material came on the market", recalled Italian architect and...
A few years ago the (smow) blog telephone rang..... "Good morning is it possible to speak to Philippe Starck please?" enquired the caller. "I'm sorry he's not here at the moment" we replied, truthfully, if not altogether helpfully. "When will it be possible?"...
There may be no tables in the press room, but there are plenty to be found at ICFF... Eiermann 1 by Egon Eiermann from Lampert....ahhhhh, if only, if only if only. Polished chrome AND a place to rest your feet at hip level. Hhhhmmmmmm, perfection at work Oh...
Not good. For some reason which escapes us there are no tables in the press room. That's NO TABLES IN THE PRESS ROOM AT A FURNITURE TRADE SHOW. And to think we complained in Milan once when the beer in the press room fridge was too warm!!! Is there not a...
