That of Alias is a story that spans an exceptional season of Italian design, that of awareness. In 1972 the great exhibition Italy: the new domestic landscape, at the MoMA in New York, had brought the country’s creative scene to international attention.
The “Spaghetti” family, design Giandomenico Belotti – Photo © Luca Tamburlini
The years immediately following had been one of exponential growth, in terms of industry and ideas. It was in this context of extraordinary ferment that, in 1979, a company was founded in Grumello del Monte (Bergamo) that, already from its name, proposed itself as ‘other’ and that had a profound cultural reflection behind it. The first official presentation took place in the Milan gallery of Giò Marconi, where works by Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana were exhibited.
“Prima” chair, design Mario Botta – Photo © Aldo Ballo
“Prima” chair, design Mario Botta – Photo © Aldo Ballo
Among the first products were the Broomstick series by Vico Magistretti and the Spaghetti chair (now part of the permanent collection of the MoMA in New York) by Giandomenico Belotti, the company’s first creative director. From that moment on, a long creative journey began, full of pieces that have entered the history of design.
Riccardo Blumer shows his ‘Laleggera’ at the ‘Meubles et Fonction’ exhibition (Paris, 1997)
It was the season of pieces such as Mario Botta’s Seconda chair, Alberto Meda’s LightLight and Frame, and Riccardo Blumer‘s Laleggera. Collaborations with international designers took shape: Jasper Morrison, Michele de Lucchi, James Irvine, Nendo, Philippe Starck, Eugeni Quitllet, Sou Fujimoto and many others.
Over time, Alias entered the orbit of other prestigious brands and groups. And today, under the leadership of Beat Zaugg – owner and managing director – it announces the entry of two brilliant designers, David Lopez Quincoces and Francesco Meda, with the task of providing a new ‘creative vision’.
80s poster with a photograph by Aldo Ballo
Detail of the new Alias image
The first episode of this new course will be presented during Milano Design Week, with a new image, developed by Studio Temp, that goes back to the brand’s origins: the stylised silhouette of a cowboy on horseback (the name Alias is that of a character from Sam Peckinpah’s western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), a series of almost abstract images of the most famous pieces in the catalogue. Looking forward to the new chapter in this story.
