Brand Week: Flos

Iconic and significant products from Flos

Here at Andlight, it is no secret that we love Flos . The renowned and traditional, Italian brand always bring care and thought in to their designs and this process is what we’ll be addressing in this article.

Some designs have more to offer than others and Flos is especially talented in communicating, why their designs are made the way they are.

In this article, we will have a look at some of Flos’ most influential designs and try to illuminate the thoughts that created them.

Gino Sarfatti & the 2097 pendant

The legendary and self-taught designer Gino Sarfatti was a groundbreaking pioneer and helped change the philosophy of modern lighting. He created almost 700 different designs in his more than 30-year long career.

Sarfatti loved to play with old conventions and with his design studio Arteluce he continuously impressed the design world with innovative, beautiful designs.

Gino was not a schooled designer and therefore, he had a different view on the design process than his colleagues. In his workshop, he worked directly with materials and light sources, instead of drawing them and giving them to a producer. This way, he created a whole new context for his work and became more innovative and playful.

The best-known design from Gino Sarfatti, is without a doubt the 2097 pendant . This lamp is an example of Sarfatti’s utilitarianism and knack for beautiful functionality. The lamp tells us a lot about Gino’s thought process, when creating new designs.

The lamp is a comment on the traditional chandelier and has pompous exterior, despite the lack of material. The lamp is made from a stem in chrome or brass, with arms in three levels. These arms each hold a lightbulb and the cords are waving beautifully towards the stem.



These cords are an example of how Sarfatti made necessary components a natural and central part of the design. In this design, the cords are filling out the design, making the pendant look like a grandiose chandelier. Without the cords, the design would have been naked and this way he solved the problem of hiding away certain elements of a design.

The pendant is available in three sizes and you can choose between a chrome or brass colors.

Philippe Starck & the Gun-series

Philippe Starck has been an integrated part of Flos for a long time and manages to impress with one design after another. Starck’s philosophy says that every new creation must have a purpose to improve life for as many as possible. Starck has created countless designs and won several design awards, making him one of the greatest designers of our time.

The K-tribe series from 2005 has been a central series for Flos and have become wildly popular in many countries. You might also know the Miss K table lamp that won a Red Dot Design Award.

In recent years, his Bon Jour series has gained a lot of attention, with its many color combinations. On this lamp, you will choose the color of the base and then the color of the screen, making the lamp open to personalization. The lamp is also available in a mini-version with a rechargeable battery, so you can bring it anywhere.

However, the most famous and provocative design from the world-famous designer, is his Gun-series . This series became a design icon and a topic of conversation at the same time. The extravagant lamps that imitate different handguns in gold or chrome is a comment on Starck’s own philosophy.

“Design is my weapon” , says the now 70-year old designer that created the series to shed light on the connection between money and war:

"The gold of the weapons represents the collusion between money and war. The Table Gun symbolizes the East, the Bed Side Gun symbolizes Europe, and the Lounge Gun represents the West.”



The gold and chrome plated weapons that the lamps consist of, is a provocative reminder that money and war is bound to each other. With these lamps, Philippe Starck asks: “Why doesn't furniture show that everything is a political choice?”

The design is extremely political and it is a wild reference to think about, every time you look at the lamp. In addition to the political statement, 20% of the profit is donated to Fréres des Hommes, an organization working to end poverty around the world.

The lamp is available with a chrome plating or a 24 carat gold plating. You can choose between a small table lamp , mimicking a Desert Eagle handgun, a larger table lamp imitating an AK-47 and lastly, a tall floor lamp replicating an M16 rifle. All of the lamps have a dimmer switch on the cord.

Paolo Rizzatto & Flos 265

Paolo Rizzatto is another influential designer with Flos. Rizzatto is possibly best known for the Luceplan Hope pendant, created in cooperation with Franscisco Gomez Paz. The reflective chandelier has become an icon for Italian Luceplan and is famous all around the world.

For Flos, he created the interesting and functional wall light 265. The lamp is wall-mounted and the arm consists of a shade and a counterweight. The lamp has incredible balance and an impressive reach. Flos 265 is beautiful and different, but it does require that you know where to put it and what to use it for.

Some use it in the office and others hang it high above the couch, in order for the shade to reach the coffee table. Nonetheless, Flos 265 is a bold choice that will impress most design-geeks. The lamp was designed in 1973 and was originally designed in black and white.



Now, Flos has launched a sharp and eye-catching version in red . We just got this color in our selection, for design lovers looking for a unique and sturdy design.

Michael Anastassiades & the IC-series

Michael Anastassiades is another central designer at Flos and he is the father of the popular Extra lamps and to the IC-series.
Michael believes that a lamp cannot be seen as an independent object, but is made to interact with its surroundings.

This promise is kept in his IC-series that gained wild popularity over the past years. The simple construction of a opal glass bulb, balancing effortlessly on a thin rod in black or brass encapsulates the Flos style and works well with a lot of interior.

The series is complete with floor lamps , table lamps and pendants . If you want to, this makes it possible to fill a room with beautiful bubbles of light, balancing in the air.



Especially the floor lamp IC F2 has become very popular, because it reflects the artistic design in the best way. The lamp is a good example of how simplicity can be fascinating in itself and that balance is a big part of industrial design.

Also, the IC F2 has appeared in the HBO hit series, The Handmaid’s Tale.



If you want to learn more about Flos, you can read about their story in this blogpost.