In a few words, tell us about your company – who is Alessi? 

Alessi is simply design! Established in 1921 by Giovanni Alessi in Northern Italy on Lake Orta, within the famous metal craftsmanship district, we are still a family run company today currently celebrating their 100Year Anniversary. Founded as a metals workshop, Alessi evolved to become one of the leading Factories of Italian Design capable of applying its expertise and excellence in design management to many different product types and continues to be synonymous with handcrafted objects produced with the help of machines. Their mission is to translate creative expressions into real objects capable of fulfilling dreams and satisfying the public’s desires. Over the years, Alessi has collaborated with over three hundred designers and architects from around the world to produce thousands of objects for the Home and Gifting objects, many of which have become icons of modern design. We are also proud to be one of the first Italian Design Factories to become Certified B-Corp, a global movement of companies that go beyond the goal of profit to use their business as a tool to positively impact their employees, community and the environment.

Tell us about your role as CEO of Alessi.

My role as the Chief Executive Officer of Alessi is to oversee the business development and brand growth in a market that has immense opportunity. We have invested over $15 Million to restructure and improve our industrial strategy and operational footprint over the last two years. What is unique about Alessi is our ability to work across multiple channels of distribution with Retail, Hospitality and Design partners, with Commercial and Corporate Brands on Specialty Projects, and our strong Digital strategy and Omnichannel experience. I am proud to share that we have recently developed special collections for Fendi, Nestlé, Keurig, Nespresso and Fila, just to name a few.

Alessi is currently celebrating their 100 Year, an extraordinary accomplishment. What are some of Alessi’s most revolutionary and iconic products? 

As you can imagine, that isn’t an easy question to answer when Alessi has produced over 1000 products over the course of their history, many of which have become modern design icons and are in the permanent collections of museums around the world, such as the MoMA and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, the Triennale di Milano, the Design Museum in London and others! But when I think of some of my favorite products from our catalog, there are a few that come to mind. Our 9093 Tea Kettle designed by Michael Graves in 1985 is still one of our best-selling objects for a reason. Our PSJS Juicy Salif lemon juicer designed by Philippe Starck in 1990 is also at the top of the list, a piece that is not only functional but sculptural. And we just launched our new Plissé Collection of kitchen electronics by Michele de Lucchi that have already become customer favorites.

Tell us what we can expect to see from Alessi this year?

In celebration of the company’s 100 Year Anniversary we have launched the 100 Values Collection, a special initiative that speaks about the founding values of the company’s design excellence. Twelve values that have defined the identity and work of Alessi are represented by twelve previously unpublished projects with deep-running roots – objects that were never realized, research samples, and new versions of signature classics. Values like Industrial Craftsmanship, Art, Poetry… Each is very special to Alessi and a collection I am really excited about. And I can also say that as a company we believe in evolving with the future of design and technology, and while I cannot give you the details now, we will introduce some very smart IoT design pieces later this year – stay tuned!