Enrico Cappellini opens a small workshop in Carugo, a small town a few steps from Como and Milan, producing traditional pieces of furniture according to the artisan traditions of the Brianza area.
1977
Giulio Cappellini joins his father’s company with the precise intent to bring innovation and to launch the brand on the international market.
1981
Cappellini launches Sistemi: a new way of conceiving cabinets, combining function and aesthetics, also in a serial production. Simplicity, elegance, formal lightness and innovation are the guidelines for these new compositions, conceived to give the buyer a wide possibility of personalization.
1986
The collaboration between Giulio Cappellini and Shiro Kuramata leads to the launch of the Progetti Compiuti collection, one of the most iconic pieces in the history of design
1987
Jasper Morrison exhibits the prototype of his Thinking Man’s Chair, in London. Giulio Cappellini decides to launch it in the Cappellini catalog. This marks the beginning of a long-lasting collaboration, which continues until today.
1988
Originally born as a limited series, the iconic Embryo Chair by Marc Newson becomes a permanent piece of the Cappellini catalog.
1991
Tom Dixon collaborates with Cappellini for the realization of his iconic S-Chair, now part of the permanent collection of the most important museums around the world, such as the MoMA in New York and the Triennale in Milan
1992
The Progetto Oggetto collection was born, enriching the Cappellini catalog with a series of design accessories and objects of everyday life use. The “House of Cappellini” show presented at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan marks a change of direction for furniture design presentations organized outside the traditional fair sites.
1993
Cappellini starts to manufacture the Proust chair by Alessandro Mendini, one of the most recognizable pieces in the history of design.
1994
Cappellini presents its first anthological exhibition in Cologne, curated by Achille Castiglioni, showcasing the first 20 years of the company’s activities.
1996
The Knotted Chair by Marcel Wanders enters the Cappellini catalog and becomes a contemporary classic, still an amazing piece even many years after its conception.
1997
The Cappellini flagship store opens in Via Santa Cecilia, Milan: a new store called simply “Cappellini,” marking an aesthetic and conceptual turning point of the brand’s communication.
1998
During a visit of the 100% Design show in London, Giulio Cappellini sees the prototype of the Loop desk designed by the two young British designers Barber & Osgebry for the Wallpaper Magazine booth. This is how the Loop desk family was born, as well as a long-lasting friendship and collaboration with the designer duo.
2000
Cappellini curates a product presentation at the so-called Superstudio, located in the Tortona district in Milan, that becomes the epicenter and the place to be for the Fuorisalone activities.
2001
The company continues its international quest and expansion with the opening of Cappellini showrooms and partners all over the world.
2004
Originally designed and manufactured in polystyrene for an artistic installation, the characteristic Cloud bookshelf by the Bouroullec brothers has then been transformed into a product made of recycled plastic, the first object of such huge dimensions to be manufactured with the rotational-molding technology.
2006
Beginning of the collaboration with Nendo, discovered by Giulio Cappellini at Milan’s Salone Satellite in 2004. Since then, the Japanese studio has designed many products for Cappellini, resulting in a successful and long-lasting partnership launching design objects with a very strong visual impression.
2009
During one of his trips to New York, Giulio Cappellini meets Dror, a young and visionary designer with the idea of creating an armchair resembling a peacock’s tail with references to the fashion world. After almost one year of engineering, the Peacock armchair was born: an ambitious product, yet well-finished down to the smallest detail, capable of supporting a person's body weight with the sole use of pleated felt.
2011
From the meeting between Cappellini and the London-based studio Doshi Levien, the Capo armchair was born, a synthesis of Jonathan Levien’s rational and industrial design approach and Nipa Doshi’s attention to textures and details.
2013
Cappellini expands its decorative lighting offer with the launch of Meltdown, a complete family of table, floor and suspension lamps with diffusers made of colored glass, mouth-blown into a mold.
2014
The Marangoni Institute opens a new branch in Milan dedicated to furniture design education. The school interiors have been completely curated and designed under the artistic direction of Giulio Cappellini, who furnished the Institute with some of the design icons of the Cappellini catalog, as well as various products specifically designed for this project.
2016
In the same year Cappellini presents two objects, designed in very different times, yet characterized by the same technological, functional and aesthetic research: the Tube Chair by Joe Colombo, originally designed in 1969, and the Drum armchair by Mac Stopa. True products are timeless.
2018
During the 2018 Milan Design Week, Cappellini wins the Frame Award for the best use of light with its scenographic booth made of neon light boxes, enhancing the surface textures and emphasizing the stylistic language of its products.
2019
The new Cappellini Hub opens in north of Milan to unify the operations, the technical and the R&D departments. A big industrial space of more than 6.000 sqm where all the storage, assembly, quality control and shipping activities take place under one roof, and where all the innovative ideas of Cappellini products come to life.
2020
From the collaboration with the renowned Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola, the Lud’o Lounge armchair was born: an innovative project with unusual lines and an ingenious construction, entirely based on the idea of wearability and sustainability
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