Flos was founded in 1962 in Merano, to produce modern lighting.

To develop new lighting concepts, they enlisted the aid of Achille Castiglioni, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Tobia Scarpa. One of the first materials they experimented with was cocoon, a very pliable material made in the USA. In 1964 Sergio Gandini joined the company, and the headquarters were moved to a new site near Brescia. The first Flos retail store, designed by the Castiglioni brothers (Achille and Pier Giacomo), opened in Milan in 1968. Pino Tovaglia designed the logo, and Max Huber the catalogues.

 What the Company offers

Today Flos is an international organization that offers a complete range of residential, commercial and even custom-made lighting products that can be seamlessly integrated in any office, hotel, or store, together with a specifically designed line of informative materials, among which a corporate manual.

Flos contract division assists architects with the know-how it acquired over its forty years of experience not only as a manufacturer, but also as a specialty lighting systems designer for a wide-range of challenging environments, such as museums, stores, and theatres.

The icons

The catalogue showcases items that now rightfully belong to the history of design: forms, lighting techniques, original design concepts invented by Flos, readily acclaimed and adopted by consumers across multi-cultural areas and eras.

Among these: Parentesi by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzù; Arco and Taraxacum by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni; Miss Sissi, Archimoon, the Romeo series and the Ktribe series by Philippe Starck; the Glo-Ball series by Jasper Morrison; Skygarden and Zeppelin suspension lights by Marcel Wanders; the 2097 chandelier by Gino Sarfatti; Ray by Rodolfo Dordoni; Kelvin by Antonio Citterio with Toan Nguyen; Nebula by Joris Laarman.