The Italian lighting manufacturer Flos has announced a significant expansion of its long-standing relationship with renowned designer Michael Anastassiades. Under a newly forged agreement, the company will take over the production and distribution of a select range of lighting products originally developed under Anastassiades’ own eponymous independent brand.
This strategic integration brings a carefully curated selection of designs from Anastassiades’ independent catalogue directly into the main commercial offerings of the Italian manufacturing house. While Flos will now oversee the global manufacturing and distribution network for these specific pieces, the companies have emphasized that the move is structured to carefully preserve the distinct identity, minimalist integrity, and signature design language that defines Anastassiades’ independent collections. By leveraging Flos’ robust international presence, the agreement aims to broaden the global availability of these works while keeping their original creative vision intact.
At present, Flos has not yet publicly identified the specific products that will transition into its catalogue, nor has the company provided a definitive timetable for when this integration will take place. However, the official announcement confirms that the chosen designs will seamlessly transition into Flos’ existing production and distribution channels once the rollout begins.
Piero Gandini, Executive Chairman and Artistic Supervisor of the Flos B&B Italia Group, reflected on the evolution of their working relationship, noting that the new agreement is a natural progression of a creative partnership that has flourished for well over a decade. According to Gandini, the decision to incorporate pieces from the designer’s independent heritage collection into the broader Flos catalogue is the logical outcome of a collaborative journey that began more than ten years ago.
Echoing this sentiment, Michael Anastassiades pointed to the organic nature of the transition, looking back at the body of work he has independently cultivated over the past twenty years. For the designer, passing the torch of production and distribution for these specific creations to Flos feels like a natural next step in his professional trajectory.
The professional alliance between Anastassiades and Flos first took root following a pivotal meeting between the designer and Piero Gandini in 2011. That initial encounter laid the groundwork for a deeply fruitful partnership, leading to the launch of their very first collaborative collections for the company, namely the String Lights and IC Lights, in 2013. These debut pieces immediately captured international attention for their poetic minimalism, geometric precision, and innovative approach to spatial illumination, establishing a high benchmark for contemporary lighting design.
Following the success of those early releases, the collaboration continued to yield iconic products over the subsequent years. In 2015, the partnership introduced the Captain Flint luminaire, a versatile and understated floor lamp that further cemented the design language shared by Anastassiades and the Italian manufacturer. This was followed in 2018 by the Overlap suspension lamp, an ethereal fixture crafted using Flos’ proprietary Cocoon material to diffuse a soft, sculptural glow. That same year also saw the introduction of Arrangements, a highly sophisticated, modular decorative lighting system that allowed users to configure geometric chains of light like bespoke jewelry.
Michael Anastassiades’ broader creative practice is widely recognized for its multidisciplinary scope, spanning not only lighting but also furniture, everyday objects, and ambitious spatial installations. His work is characterized by a constant dialogue between industrial manufacturing techniques and traditional, craft-based methods, resulting in objects that possess both a rigorous engineering logic and a profound human warmth. The newly announced arrangement successfully bridges this independent body of work with Flos’ established commercial portfolio, ensuring that these carefully crafted designs can reach a wider audience of design enthusiasts, architects, and interior specifiers around the world while remaining true to the designer’s original artistic ethos.
