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Italianità* and internationalism: Production, design and mediation at Alessi, 1976–96**

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2016

Grace Lees-Maffei
Grace Lees-Maffei*
Affiliation:
University of Hertfordshire, Faculty of Art and Design, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB, Telephone: 01707 285369, Fax: 01707 285350. E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

This article considers the Italian household product design company Alessi as quintessentially Italian and international. The interplay of mass-production and craft techniques at Alessi, an extended design process and the presentation of the family in company publicity exemplify the ambiguities identified within Italian design. The extent to which Alessi typifies Italian post-war design is questioned with reference to the company's international design team and the marketing of its products to foreign consumers as manifestations of italianità. The findings are based on primary research in Milan and the Alessi factory, including a series of interviews with designers, retailers, curators and media workers, combined with secondary material centred upon design history.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , May 2002 , pp. 37 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

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References

Notes

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