No. 3 of our new series, Great Heroes: Achille Castiglioni

Welcome to our ‘Great Heroes’ series. In this collection of stories, we take you into the world of the people who motivate and inspire our team every day. You will be introduced to our personal heroes.

By sharing these stories, we invite you to get to know our team on a more personal level. Discover which pioneers, artists and thinkers have shaped us, and why their work continues to inspire us in our own creative journey.

Judith's great Hero:

Achille Castiglioni

Milan, Italy 1918-2002

‘The first one that comes to mind is the Italian industrial

designer Achille Castiglioni’. Says Judith Everaarts, senior designer.

‘His outlook on the design profession, his inexhaustible curiosity

and inventiveness remain current, timeless and inspiring.’

As an architect graduate, he joined the design firm of his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo. Both brothers die at a relatively young age, leaving him

continued independently as an industrial designer. He worked

with/for very many different brands including in lighting furniture, everyday utensils. One of his world-famous design is the lamp Arco for Flos, designed in 1963.

"While studying in Milan in the 1980s, I attended lectures

with him at the Domus Academy.

Every time it was a surprise what he would come up with. I remember very well, for example, that he arrived one day with a small part of his loafer collection and he used this colourful collection to tell us he knew how to talk about the design profession in a very interesting way."

During his working life, he collected a lot. Much of this can still be admired in his working studio in Milan. Studio Museo Achille Castiglioni, this is housed by his family in the Achille Castiglioni Foundation; his daughter, among others, still gives tours there still gives guided tours there. Definitely worth a visit!