The glass façade of the Felice Rossi showroom in the 1950s, black-and-white archive photo

felicerossi® — since 1922

A century of Italian design.

Felice Rossi showroom, 1950s

Design breathes the emotion of history

felicerossi® is one of Italy's oldest design brands. What began as a small workshop in Lombardy grew into a brand that moved with its time for a century – and was often ahead of it. Style, craftsmanship and the spirit of the age: those are the three words the house stands on.

1922 — today

The story of felicerossi®.

1922
The beginning.
Felice Rossi and his brother Giuseppe start Felice Rossi e C. in Arsago, near Varese: a small workshop for mattresses, saddles and made-to-measure furniture. Their work spans classic designs as well as the exclusive Art Deco style that defined the twenties and thirties. In 1935 Giuseppe goes his own way and founds the Rossi di Albizzate brand.

Rossi Felice catalogue, Arsago
1950
Series with soul.
During the post-war reconstruction Felice builds a factory in Casorate Sempione. His plan: to make classic and modern furniture in series, without compromising on craft. The company grows to 140 craftspeople – and everything is still made by hand. Architects such as Paolo Tilche begin working with the brand.

The factory in Casorate Sempione
1960
Sixties spirit, Italian soul.
New plastics and foam techniques give designers more freedom in form and refinement. In 1961 Rossi Felice exhibits at the very first Salone del Mobile in Milan and grows into a maker of modern upholstered furniture.

Armchair, 1960s
1970
The rise and a new style.
Italian design takes the lead worldwide. A new logo and a new house style put Felice Rossi at the forefront of that movement. The collaboration with architects Roberto Lera and Vittorio Introini – including the Relax of 1978 – leaves a lasting impression.

Lounge chairs, 1970s
1980
Form, function, fabulous.
Postmodernism breaks through and Made in Italy becomes a brand in itself. felicerossi® becomes an icon of Italian style: the Topolino by Marco Seveso and Gigi Trezzi (1982) appears in the American TV series Miami Vice, and the brand's designs even feature in miniature in Mattel's Barbie Dreamhouse. In 1988 the Paris showroom opens.

Topolino | Marco Seveso & Gigi Trezzi | 1982
1990
The Dutch went deep, the Italians went soft.
After the exuberant eighties come restraint and minimalism. While Dutch design experiments, felicerossi® takes its own path: under the Italian art directors Marco Seveso and Gigi Trezzi a modern style emerges that is all about comfort, simplicity and craft.

Sofa, 1990s
2001
Design reinvented.
The new showroom in Milan becomes a laboratory for S.O.F.A., an ongoing design research project led by Jacco Bregonje (design), Carlo Magnoli (communication) and Roberto Sartorio (development). For five years the brand presents innovative concepts there that win awards and enter museum collections – including, in 2002, the Divina.

Opening of the felicerossi showcenter, Milan, 2001
2014
Too beautiful to close.
The chapter of the founding family closes. Together with Jacco Bregonje, a way is sought to preserve the heritage of felicerossi®. Fokke van der Veer, former vice president at Unilever, takes over the brand with great passion; Bregonje stays on as its creative guardian. The design research continues: in 2017 comes Ecopixel®, the Divina made from reused waste plastic.

Ecopixel | Divina | 2017
Today
A second act.
A century after the first workshop, the archive is intact and the focus is on the future. And for the first time the Divina is available to buy directly online – in ten colours, metallic, as Ecopixel or lacquered to order.

A century of felicerossi catalogues