KARTELL AND ILLYCAFFÈ: A NEW STEP FORWARD IN THE PARTNERSHIP THAT BRINGS TOGETHER DESIGN, INNOVATION AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

MILAN, April 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The partnership between Kartell and illycaffè continues to celebrate circular economy, and on the 2024 Milan Furniture Fair the collection is excited to welcome with the A.I. CONSOLE designed by Philippe Starck.

Launching off the back of the success of 2023’s Eleganza armchair and Re-Chair, (designed by Antonio Citterio for Kartell to experiment with the creative capacities of recycling and the first ambassador for the project that turned discarded coffee capsules into a designer object), Philippe Starck’s A.I. CONSOLE is born as an innovative expression of elegance in which artificial intelligence embraces a search for the essential. Inspired by the A.I. family’s distinctive lines, the console stands out for being a unique piece of furniture that leaves an uncluttered yet characterful mark on entrances and corridors thanks to its slender styling and central leg. Versatile and suitable for a variety of contexts, A.I. CONSOLE is available in white, black, grey, and burnt orange, and is built using recycled illy Iperespresso capsules, reflecting the two companies’ desire to continue their partnership to offer an ever wider and more complete selection of products through innovative upcycling.

“Together with Kartell, with whom we agree on the need to transition to increasingly innovative and sustainable productive processes, we have been able to implement solutions to turn our recycled capsules into designer objects – says Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè. “This partnership allows us to express, interpret, and promote as best as possible the values around which illycaffè has, for over 90 years, built its strategy, innovation, quality, and beauty.”

“The A.I. Console – explains Lorenza Luti, Kartell’s Marketing and Retail director –is the third Kartell product made with recycled illy capsules and represents an additional step forward in our quest to combine technological innovation and sustainability. Thanks to the collaboration between Kartell and illy, in 2022 we successfully introduced one-of-a-kind products: designer objects that are both functional and environmentally sustainable”.

The partnership between Kartell and illycaffè will be the cornerstone of the installation that will brighten up the illy flagship store in Via Montenapoleone, where innovation and sustainability will be highlighted: an eye-catching way to showcase how two icons of Made- in-Italy excellence are contributing to the sustainability of the planet by strengthening circular economy production models.

Brand-new this year are the press offices of Interni Magazine at Milan’s Università Statale. Staged by illycaffè in collaboration with Kartell, from April 15 to 28 they will host the “Cross Vision for the Future” installation. The project’s design is inspired by Arabica coffee plantations, with walls depicting coffee plants and furniture selected with care to ensure the utmost comfort and elegance. The show piece is Philippe Starck’s A.I. Console. The two lounges are ideal, informal spaces in which to socialize, helping create an environment that encourages creativity and productivity during printing and other work. In other words, the project integrates design and functionality, creating a space that stimulates the senses and provides an evocative user experience.

illycaffè is an Italian family-owned company, founded in Trieste in 1933 which has always set itself the mission of offering the best coffee to the world. It produces a unique 100% Arabica blend composed of 9 different ingredients. The company selects only 1% of the best Arabica beans. Every day more than 8 million cups of illy coffee are served in over 140 countries around the globe, in the cafés, restaurants and hotels, in single-brand cafés and shops, at home and in the office, in which the company is present through subsidiaries and distributors. Since its foundation, illycaffè has oriented its strategies towards a sustainable business model, commitment that it strengthened in 2019 by adopting the status of Benefit Company and in 2021 becoming the first Italian coffee company to obtain the international B Corp certification. Everything that is “made in illy” is about beauty and art, the founding principles of the brand, starting from its logo, designed by artist James Rosenquist, up to illy Art Collection cups, decorated by over 130 international artists, or coffee machines designed by internationally renowned designers. With the aim of spreading the culture of quality to growers, baristas and coffee lovers, the company has developed its Università del Caffè which today holds courses in 23 countries around the world. In 2023, the company had a turnover of €595,1 million. The illy single-brand network has 159 points of sale in 30 countries.

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SOURCE illycaffè