Imaginative lighting is a longtime hallmark of modern Italian design. Following in the footsteps of innovative companies such as Artemide and Arteluce, the company FLOS brought a fresh aesthetic philosophy to the Italian lighting field in the 1960s, one that would produce several of the iconic floor lamp, table lamp and pendant light designs of the era.
FLOS — Latin for “flower” — was founded in the northern town of Merano in 1962 by Cesare Cassina (of the famed Cassina furniture-making family) and Dino Gavina, a highly cultured businessman who believed that artistic ideas espoused in postwar Italy could inform commercial design. The two enlisted brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni as their first designers.
Even before FLOS was formally incorporated, the Castiglionis gave the firm one of its enduring successes with the Taraxacum pendant and associated designs made by spraying an elastic polymer on a metal armature. (George Nelson had pioneered the technique in the United States in the early 1950s.) For other designs, the brothers found inspiration in everyday objects. Suggestive of streetlights, their Arco floor lamp, with its chrome boom and ball-shaped shade sweeping out from a marble block base, has become a staple of modernist decors. Designing for FLOS since 1966, Tobia Scarpa has also been inspired by the commonplace. His folded-metal Foglio sconces resemble a shirt cuff; his carved marble Biagio table lamp looks like a jai alai basket.
In 1973, FLOS purchased Arteluce, the company founded in 1939 by Gino Sarfatti, and it continues to produce his designs. In recent decades, FLOS has contracted work from several noted designers, including Marcel Wanders and Jasper Morrison. As instantly recognizable as they are, many FLOS designs remain accessible. While FLOS lighting is the essence of modernity, its sleek, subtle designs can be used to strike a sculptural note in even traditional spaces.
Browse a broad range of FLOS lighting fixtures at 1stDibs.
Flos Tab Table LED Lamp 2700K with Dimmer 90° Rotatable Head, White
By Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A brand new edition of the Tab family, now with new capabilities in new colors. This new edition of Tab table lamp has an adjustable head with a ±90-deg...
Aluminum
Michael Anastassiades Modern Minimalist Black & Glass Table Desk Lamp for FLOS
By Michael Anastassiades, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
FLOS IC Lights T2 Table Lamp in Black by Michael Anastassiades Like the other pieces in his IC Light Series, the IC Lights T balances designer Michael Anastassiades’ love of industr...
Steel
FLOS IC Lights T2 Table Lamp in Black by Michael Anastassiades
By Flos, Michael Anastassiades
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Like the other pieces in his IC Light Series, the IC Lights T balances designer Michael Anastassiades’ love of industrial simplicity with intricate symbolism. It provides diffused li...
Steel
FLOS Kelvin Edge Clamp Lamp in Titanium by Antonio Citterio
By Flos, Antonio Citterio
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The newest addition to the popular Kelvin LED family, the Kelvin Edge offers the innovation and sleek design of the collection in a smaller package—without sacrificing output. Featur...
Aluminum
FLOS Kelvin Edge LED Tension Table Lamp in Titanium by Antonio Citterio
By Flos, Antonio Citterio
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The newest addition to the popular Kelvin LED family, the Kelvin Edge offers the innovation and sleek design of the collection in a smaller package—without sacrificing output. Featur...
Aluminum
FLOS Kelvin Edge lED White Desk Support Lamp w/ Hidden Cord by Antonio Citterio
By Antonio Citterio, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The newest addition to the popular Kelvin LED family, the Kelvin Edge offers the innovation and sleek design of the collection in a smaller package—without sacrificing output. Featuring the exclusive Edge Lighting...
Aluminum
Michael Anastassiades Modern Minimalist Chrome & Glass Table Desk Lamp for FLOS
By Michael Anastassiades, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
FLOS IC Lights T2 Table Lamp in Chrome by Michael Anastassiades Like the other pieces in his IC Light Series, the IC Lights T balances designer Michael Anastassiades’ love of indust...
Steel
B.L.O. table light, design Marcel Wanders for Flos, 2001
By Flos, MARCEL WANDERS
Located in Ravenna, IT
B.L.O. (Blow Lamp Off) is a table lamp designed by Marcel Wanders for Flos in the early 2000s. The project reinterprets the poetic gesture of blowing out a candle in a contemporary w...
Plastic
1980s Ezio Didone for Arteluce/Flos/Atelier International Table & Desk 990 Lamp
By Flos, Ezio Didone
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a Desk 990 Lamp, originally designed by Ezio Didone in 1983. This particular example Flos acquired from Arteluce and was produced in the 1980s. Atelier International distribu...
Aluminum, Iron
2021 Extra T Table Lamp by Michael Anastassiades for Flos in Graphite
By Flos, Michael Anastassiades
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Listed for sale is an Extra T table lamp with a graphite finish. The lamp was designed by Michael Anastassiades, produced by Flos in Italy. This lamp dates to circa 2021 and is guar...
Aluminum
2021 Extra T Table Lamp by Michael Anastassiades for Flos in Bronze
By Flos, Michael Anastassiades
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Listed for sale is an Extra T table lamp with a bronze finish. The lamp was designed by Michael Anastassiades, produced by Flos in Italy. This lamp dates to circa 2021 and is guaran...
Aluminum