Suitcase Table Lamp attributed to Ettore Sottsass for Stilnovo, Italy, 1977

Born in Innsbruck, Austria in 1917, architect-designer Ettore Sottsass grew up in Milan. He studied architecture at the Polytechnic of Turin, graduating in 1939. As a member of the Italian army, Sottsass spent most of World War II in a Yugoslavian concentration camp. After the war, he returned to Milan and opened his first studio in 1947. Like most Italian designers in these years, he focused on activities to help the postwar reconstruction efforts, including exhibition design.

In 1958, he began working with Olivetti, for whom he designed multiple landmark objects—including Valentine, the brand’s iconic 1969 red plastic typewriter—and transformed the large, cold electronics and office machinery of the day into playful, accessible objects of desire.

During the 1960s, Sottsass spent time in both India, where he was deeply affected by the country’s vibrant colors and mythologies, and the U.S., where he embraced pop art culture. These influences can be seen in Sottsass's ceramic designs through the rest of his life.

In 1973, he cofounded Global Tools, an experimental design collective, alongside Gaetano Pesce, Alessandro Mendini, and others. During the ’70s, he collaborated with Alessi, Baccarat, and Knoll, designing everyday items like condiment sets and decanters. Other manufacturers that Sottsass designed for include Artemide, Bitossi, O-Luce, Poltronova, Skipper, Stilnovo, and Zanotta.

In 1980, he formed the architecture/design firm Sottsass Associati. In 1981, he founded the Memphis Group, an influential, flamboyant design firm known for its brightly colored post-modern furniture, ceramics, and lighting. He remained with the Group until 1985, at which point he turned his attentions again to architecture. He died at the age of 90.

Italian lighting manufacturer Stilnovo was founded by designer Bruno Gatta in 1946 in Lainate, an industrial suburb of Milan. In response to the aftermath World War II—at a time when Italy was focused on rebuilding under conditions of scarcity—Gatta dedicated Stilnovo to the production of innovative lighting elements that embody rationalist, form-follows-function principles.

In the postwar era, designer Gaetano Sciolari took on the role of in-house designer. As economic recovery swept through Italy, Stilnovo became known as a prestigious and cutting-edge brand for both public and private spaces.

In the mid-1960s, Bruno’s son, Dino Gatta, had the idea to invite some of the best designers of the day to develop new products, and Stilnovo became a hotbed of progressive design ideas and a laboratory for material experimentation. Standouts from this futuristic era include the Periscopio Floor Lamp (1967) by Danilo & Corrado Aroldi, the Treiedo Spotlight (1970) and the Topo Adjustable Wall Lamp (1970) by Joe Colombo, the Lucetta Table Lamp (1970) by Cini Boeri, the Fante Desk Lamp (1978) by De Pas, D’Urbino, Lomazzi, and the Valigia Desk Lamp (1977) by Ettore Sottsass. Many Stillnovo pieces were exhibited in MoMA’s landmark Italy: The New Domestic Landscape exhibition in 1972.

Massimo Anselmi, an art director from the worlds of fashion design and contemporary art, acquired Stilnovo in 2012 and launched re-editions of iconic Stilnovo designs at Salone the following year.