When light is created in Italy, it rarely happens by chance. In a country where design and craftsmanship have gone hand in hand for generations, lighting design becomes an art form – sensual, precise and uncompromisingly beautiful. "Made in Italy" is more than a statement of origin. It is a promise of quality, creativity and a distinctive style that brings function and emotion together.
Few brands embody this spirit as convincingly as Flos. For more than 60 years, the Italian company has stood for lights that combine craftsmanship, technology and timeless aesthetics – setting standards around the world.
At a glance:
- "Made in Italy" – more than a label
- Flos – light as a cultural language
- Craftsmanship meets innovation – the new lights from Flos
- The legacy of Italian lighting design
"Made in Italy" – more than a label
In Italy, design has a soul. It grows out of the interplay between tradition and vision – out of decades of experience with materials and a fine feel for form and light. Handwork still plays a central role today: glass is mouth-blown, metal is carefully worked and every detail is precisely tuned.
Yet Italian lighting design is never nostalgic. Its openness to new technologies, materials and production methods is exactly what makes it so forward-looking. The Made in Italy label therefore stands for an attitude: innovation with respect for craftsmanship.
Flos – light as a cultural language
Flos was founded in Merano in 1962 and quickly became a symbol of Italian design culture. The brand stands for lighting objects that are not only functional but also carry cultural meaning. Icons such as the Arco arc lamp, the Taccia (Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, 1962) and the minimalist Parentesi (Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzù, 1971) made Flos famous around the world.
What all these designs share is the idea that light has an emotional dimension. It is not just about creating brightness, but about creating atmosphere – and celebrating the interplay of material, space and perception.
To this day, Flos works with internationally renowned designers, including Achille Castiglioni, Patricia Urquiola, Philippe Starck and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. Together with Italian workshops, they create lights that combine technical refinement with emotional impact.
The Neuheiten 2025 are another prime example of Italian lighting design – an almost poetic combination of classic forms and state-of-the-art technology.
Craftsmanship meets innovation – the new lights from Flos
With the Seki Han series, Flos brings a piece of design history back into the present. Designed by Tobia Scarpa, the light is based on a design from the 1960s that has now been reinterpreted with the latest LED technology.
Two elegantly curved wooden wings frame a cylindrical light body – inspired by ship architecture and made with the precision of traditional joinery. The wings rotate smoothly, so you can direct the light as you like: sometimes open and expansive, sometimes focused and intimate.
Whether as a pendant light or a floor lamp, Seki Han seems almost alive. Its light changes with the position of the wings, creating a warm, shifting play of shadow and reflection. In this way, it embodies the essence of Italian lighting design: the combination of craftsmanship, a feel for materials and technical innovation.
With the Luce series, Flos shows how contemporary lighting design carries Italian craftsmanship into the future. Designed by Ronan Bouroullec, Luce Cilindrica and Luce Sferica combine poetic forms with a high degree of technical precision.
Both models are made in Italy, with mouth-blown glass and carefully finished aluminium. Inside, a dual LED system creates a balanced light: upwards for soft ambient lighting, downwards for focused brightness. The modular construction allows individual compositions – from linear rows to freely arranged lightscapes. A discreet touch dimmer at one end lets you control each light source independently.
While the floating glass spheres of Luce Sferica are reminiscent of soap bubbles, Luce Cilindrica looks like a clear column of light – elegant, pared back and technically refined. Both models embody what Flos's philosophy is all about: light as an emotional, architectural element.
The legacy of Italian lighting design
What makes Flos – and Italian lighting design as a whole – so special is its ability to unite opposites: handwork and technology, tradition and avant-garde, art and function. Each light becomes a small work of art that enters into a dialogue with its surroundings.
At Flos, the Made in Italy seal of quality stands not only for origin but for an attitude: a deep understanding of materials and of the interplay between form and light – and the courage to keep rethinking what is possible.
Because genuine Made in Italy doesn't just shine – it tells stories.
