Cassina: an officially ‘historic’ brand

The company joins the ranks of the Italian Historic Trademarks of National Interest

Cassina, Soriana by Afra e Tobia Scarpa. Ph © Valentina Sommariva
Cassina, Soriana by Afra e Tobia Scarpa. Ph © Valentina Sommariva

“We are proud to have received this prestigious honor, a synonym for excellence and symbol of the bond with the national territory.” This is how Luca Fuso, CEO of Cassina, reacts to the remarkable new status with which the company begins the new year.
Cassina becomes part of the special register of Historic Trademarks of National Interest, an initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development to protect and support excellent companies with historic ties to the Italian territory (operating for at least 50 years).
“This is an important achievement for Cassina – the CEO continues – a company whose background is made of a great history of enterprise, and above all of innovation and culture.”

Excellence, advanced research and authenticity are other values the brand has carefully shaped over nearly one century of activity. Cassina was founded in 1927 by Cesare and Umberto Cassina. Since then its path has been one of constant growth: in the 1950s in Italy the company ushered in the phenomenon of industrial design, with the passage from crafts to mass production; this was the period of the firm’s first Compasso d’Oro award, with the Mod. 683 chair by Carlo De Carli, and of the birth of the Superleggera chair (Mod. 699) based on the collaboration with Gio Ponti.
The 1960s are represented by the figure of Vico Magistretti, as well as the start of production of models created in the 1920s by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand.
This led to the Cassina I Maestri collection in the decade to follow, which has now become a perfect counterpart for the contemporary collections (extending in recent years to the outdoor and contract sectors, with Cassina Pro). The latest models include works by Philippe Starck, Piero Lissoni, Rodolfo Dordoni and Patricia Urquiola, art director of the brand since 2016.