Zanotta

About

Zanotta is an Italian furniture manufacturer known for design-led furniture produced in collaboration with avant-garde designers, based in Nova Milanese, in Lombardy, Italy. Its catalogue covers seating, sofas, tables and accessories for residential and contract interiors, and it is associated with a number of designs that became landmarks of Italian design. It is part of Haworth's Lifestyle Design group. The company was founded in 1954 by Aurelio Zanotta in Nova Milanese, where it has remained. Originally producing fairly traditional upholstered furniture, by the early 1960s it had begun commissioning work from avant-garde designers and built a reputation for experimental, design-led pieces, working with figures such as the Castiglioni brothers, Gae Aulenti, Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini. Several Zanotta products are landmarks of twentieth-century design. The Sacco bean-bag chair, designed in 1968 by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro, is among the best-known, an early formless seat filled with plastic beads. The Blow chair, an inflatable PVC armchair designed in 1967 by De Pas, D'Urbino, Lomazzi and Scolari, became emblematic of late-1960s design, and the company also produced pieces by the Castiglioni brothers such as the Mezzadro and Sella seats. Ownership has changed in recent years. The Italian furniture company Tecno acquired a majority stake in Zanotta in 2017, and in 2023 Zanotta was acquired by Cassina and became part of Haworth's Lifestyle Design group, which also includes brands such as Cassina, Cappellini and Poltrona Frau. Zanotta continues to operate under its own name from Nova Milanese. Zanotta's furniture is used in residential and contract interiors and is sold internationally through showrooms, design retailers and dealers. As an Italian design-furniture manufacturer founded in 1954 and known for landmark designs, Zanotta combines a strong design heritage with a place in a larger international design group.