Spotti is a story that begins in the 1950s and continues up to today, through a series of events, collaborations and successes that indelibly mark our identity.
1960s
Family-run furniture company Fratelli Spotti di Luigi is established in Cesano Maderno by the Spotti brothers. Among them is Livio, father of Claudio, Mauro and Sergio Spotti.
1970s
The business grows with new retailers in the Brianza area and in Milan, including La Chiocciola in Lissone; the partnership will last until the 1980s. A visionary and passionate entrepreneur, Livio Spotti makes plans to open a showroom in Lissone – he wants to broaden his horizons and nurture the international connections he’s made over the years.
1980s
Livio Spotti’s project involves the construction of a new building. Following his premature death, the project carries on thanks to his wife Gianna and their children Claudio, Mauro and Sergio. The Lissone showroom will open in 1990. The Spotti name becomes increasingly associated with the word “design” thanks to a journey in pursuit of beauty and experimentation.
1986
We open our Milan showroom in viale Piave, a stone’s throw away from Porta Venezia and the fashion district. The building is the same we’re in today.
New projects, collaborations and opportunities begin to take shape, turning the space into a breeding ground of ideas and creativity. The launch of the first kitchen designed by John Pawson is but one example.
1990s
We extend the viale Piave store and open the Lissone showroom first envisioned by Livio Spotti. It stays open until the end of the decade, when we decide to move all sales and consultancy services to the city and keep the logistics and administration departments, with dedicated operational headquarters, in Lissone.
2000s
Thanks to a new extension, which annexes the space next-door, Spotti now takes up five storefront windows. With 150 square metres entirely dedicated to Valcucine, we become its first mono-brand retailer in Europe.
2007
The Milan store turns twenty. To mark the occasion, architect and journalist Patrizia Scarzella curates a special exhibition.
2008
Spotti launches the first issue of Apartamento magazine.
2010
We open the Valcucine flagship store in the Brera neighbourhood. It becomes a reference point for lovers of the brand as well as a space for gatherings and events dedicated to the topic of environmental sustainability.
2010
At the opening of an exhibition designed by Paola Navone for Ivano Redaelli we meet Chiara Di Pinto and Arianna Lelli Mani, founders of Studiopepe. We fall in love with their original language, their poetic touch, their experiments with colours and materials. Our collaboration is a launchpad that brings both sides recognition and fame.
2012
On the occasion of Fuorisalone 2021, Spotti and Marsotto Edizioni give life to a project that challenges the material limitations of marble and emphasises its ethereal quality. In Soft Marble, an installation designed by Studiopepe for the Spotti showroom windows, large polyurethane blocks support exclusive furniture pieces in White Carrara Marble by Marsotto Edizioni. The collection is designed by an international team: from Jasper Morrison to Naoto Fukasawa via James Irvine, Ross Lovegrove, the Claesson Koivisto Rune trio, Joel Berg, Maddalena Casadei, Konstantin Grcic, Thomas Sandell and Alberto Meda.
2012
Lama/Non Lama, an exhibition curated by Studiopepe in collaboration with historic knife shop Lorenzi in Corso Magenta, delves into the world behind the utensil that has changed the history of mankind. The opening event features talks by Andrea Lorenzi, owner of the homonymous knife shop, designer Guilio Iacchetti and Stefano Citi of the Tour de Fork collective.
2012
Spotti hosts a unique exhibition to celebrate the reissue of the original Grand Prix ™ chair with wooden base, designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1957. Designer and art director Diego Grandi asks world famous tattoo artist Pietro Sedda to create nine one-off illustrated chairs (seven in wood and two in leather), observing the shape of their shell as if it were a body to decorate.
2013
WOOD MOOD, an exhibition curated by architect and designer Davide Fabio Colaci, presents a selection of ten objects by designers questioning standard industry practices to move beyond the idea of “wood” as a strictly functional material. They are Raphael Charles, Tom Chung, Levi Dethier, Ryosuke Fukusada, Alexa Lixfeld, Peter Marigold, Mockulock, Julia Walter, Giulia Cosenza + Joanne Choueiri + Povilas Raskevicius, Paolo Ulian.
2013
Spotti hosts Pensato a Mano, an exhibition curated by Studiopepe of 25 handmade items by leading Italian and international designers and artists, which reflect the tradition of artisan know-how in their design and function. Featured designers include Siba Sahabi, Alon Meron, Kuhn Keramik, Incredix Lab Design, Kyouei Design, Marama, Giovanni Scafuro and others.
2014
Arper chooses Spotti as exclusive Italian distributor of the limited-edition Bardi’s Bowl Chair. This acknowledgement comes as the culmination of a long journey sustained by study and research.
2014
During Design Week, we host the preview of the interior textiles and accessories collection designed for Kvadrat by Raf Simons, then creative director of Dior. The idea behind the collection is to reinterpret classics of international design such as armchairs by Walter Gropius and Jean Prouvé with Kvadrat’s new fabrics.
2015
We host the installation 25 ANNI DI GRCIC PER CLASSICON in our showroom windows. It celebrates the long-standing collaboration between the German company and contemporary design genius Konstantic Grcic with eight iconic black furniture pieces. A series of photographs by artist Shirana Shahbazi completes the display.
2016
Self-taught designer Christophe Delcourt, who has a strong passion for crafts and sustainability, chooses Spotti to launch his Répertoire de Formes on the occasion of his first participation in Design Week. The roots of the project go back to the 1990s, when Claudio Spotti, impressed by the elegance of Christophe Delcourt’s work upon encountering it in Paris, invites him to exhibit a collection in Spotti. Almost twenty years later, that promise leads to a partnership that rewards both sides: Christophe Delcourt is now considered one of the most interesting designers around.
2018
Our brand SEM, Spotti Edizioni Milano, launches during Milan Design Week. Through this ambitious and visionary project we build lasting relationships with emerging and established designers, such as Valentina Cameranesi Sgroi, Hannes Peer, Vormen, Paolo Rizzo, Giacomo Moor, Elisa Ossino and Marcante Testa.
2018
Spotti and Valcucine present a project by Alessandro Biamonti with a focus on sustainability. Designers Stefano Citi, Maurizio Lai, Francesco Librizzi, Raffaella Mangiarotti, Philippe Nigro, Lorenzo Palmeri, Federico Peri and Ikka Suppanen work together with glassblowing artist Massimo Lunardon to imagine fragile objects, as transparent and precious as glass, to carry their Messages for Another World.
2019
Iconic design brand Vitra chooses the Spotti showroom windows for the Italian edition of an international project interrogating urban living through creativity and experimentation. A concept by designer, painter and illustrator Elena Salmistraro, Urban Living Milano is an intense installation, where plentiful nuances, symbols and references are reinterpreted through radical and instinctive experimentation.
2019
Ever busy, we team up with architecture and design studio Quincoces-Dragò to give our showroom a makeover. This leads to a synergy that materialises in a new project, DQ+Spotti. It marks the beginning of a new partnership with ambitious plans for the future.