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{{more citations needed|date=January 2018}}
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{{Infobox company
| name = Arflex
| logo = File:Arflex_logo.png
| type = [[Privately held company]]|
| genre =
| foundation = <!-- this parameter modifies "Founded" -->1948
| founder =
| location_city =
| location_country = [[Italy]]
| location =
| key_people =
| area_served = Worldwide
| industry = [[Furniture]]s
| services =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| parent =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| owner =
| homepage = http://www.arflex.com
| dissolved =
| footnotes =
}}
 
'''Arflex''' is an [[Italy|Italian]] company that makes and sells contemporary furniture.
 
==The Company History==
[[File:Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6365662.jpg|thumb|Foam rubber Arflex. By [[Paolo Monti]] photographer, 1975.]]
In 1947 a group of researchers and entrepreneurs who after the war had begun to work on two new upholstering materials – [[foam rubber]] and [[elastic tape]] made by [[Pirelli]] – presented the technical specifications of the new products to [[Marco Zanuso]] who at once saw the huge potential of the new materials in interior furnishings and initiated an experimental programme of operations that went on until 1950. There are moments in the life and history of any manufacturing company that have special significance and are a source of universally recognized merit. Those first memorable moments in the history of Arflex coincide with the company’s creation in 1950, in modest premises in Milan’s Corso di Porta Vittoria. It was there that the first manufacturing and sales team was formed but the arflex company was only presented to the public for the first time in 1951, at the IX [[Triennale]] in [[Milan]].
[[File:Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6365658.jpg|thumb|Armchair by Arflex. By [[Paolo Monti]] photographer, 1975.]]
 
In 1947, after the war, a group of researchers and entrepreneurs began to work on two new upholstering materials, [[foam rubber]] and elastic tape made by [[Pirelli]], which had a range of possible uses in interior furnishings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seven Salotti e Arflex, il profilo delle aziende |url=https://design.repubblica.it/2008/05/05/seven-salotti-e-arflex-il-profilo-delle-aziende/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Casa & Design |language=it-IT}}</ref> They presented the technical specifications of the new products to [[Marco Zanuso]], who initiated a trial operations programme until 1950.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arflex.it/en/aboutus/1/history/page|title=Arflex - About us - History|website=www.arflex.it|access-date=2017-03-28}}</ref>
==The Avant Garde & The Experimentation==
This early contact with a wider audience in the context of an avant-garde artistic event is intensely significant. The company’s over-riding interest in experimentation, although by no means divorced from commercial considerations, testifies to its desire to create products with a high technological and aesthetic content, based on a foundation of research in depth. The gold medal awarded at the IX [[Triennale]] to [[Marco Zanuso]]’s [[Lady]] armchair was above all recognition of this side of arflex’s manufacturing philosophy. So the company’s early initiatives are indicative of a stance we may safely term innovative, or perhaps even avant-garde. On the one hand we have a methodologically exemplary contribution from one of the leading figures in Italian architecture, and on the other the commitment of a manufacturer unburdened by the ingrained habits of craft-scale production. New materials.
 
Between 1951 and 1954, Arflex produced various models of car seat designed by [[Carlo Barassi]] using foam rubber and elastic tape, which could replace standard production seats and offer more comfort, with removable covers and adjustable seatbacks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-09-10 |title=La storia del design industriale: Marco Zanuso – modaedesign.com {{!}} BLOG |url=http://blog.modaedesign.com/2010/10/i-maestri-del-design-marco-zanuso/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910142304/http://blog.modaedesign.com/2010/10/i-maestri-del-design-marco-zanuso/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-10 |access-date=2022-05-12 }}</ref> The most successful of the car seats were the "MilleMiglia" and the "Sedile Lettino", a seat that could be turned into a makeshift bed. Both were designed for the [[Fiat]] [[Fiat 500 "Topolino"|Topolino]].
==The Production==
Between 1951 and 1954 arflex produced various models of car seat designed by [[Carlo Barassi]]. These could be fitted into the vehicle instead of standard production seats and offered outstandig comfort,thanks to the use of foam rubber and elastic tape. The covers could be removed and the seatbacks were adjustable. Arflex strove to make its contribution to the comfort of those Italians who were beginning to travel just after the war. The most successful of those car seats were the "[[MilleMIglia]]" and the "[[Sedile Lettino]]", a seat that could be turned into a makeshift bed. Both were designed for the [[Fiat]] [[Fiat 500 "Topolino"|Topolino]].
 
Zanuso became an influential designer in post-war [[Italy]], associated with the ideology of the [[Modern Movement]]. Other designers who contributed to the Arflex range included: [[Franco Albini]], [[Giancarlo De Carlo]], {{ill|Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso|it|lt=Belgiojoso}}, [[BBPR|Enrico Peressutti]], [[Joe Cesare Colombo|Joe Colombo]], [[Ambrogio Casati]], {{ill|Pierluigi Spadolini|it|lt=Spadolini}}, [[Cini Boeri]], [[Michele De Lucchi]], [[Ettore Sottsass]], [[Marco Piva]], and [[Pieter De Bruyne]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
==Zanuso==
[[Marco Zanuso]] became a symbol of the developing design culture in post-war [[Italy]], a generation of designers whose social commitment was coloured by the ideological heritage of the [[Modern Movement]]. And so the collection of Arflex products is first and foremost an overview of the fruitful collaboration of manufacturer and designer.[[Marco Zanuso]] (as a designer) and arflex (as a manufacturer) started out together, the only such case in the history of furnishings in [[Italy]].
 
==See Designeralso ==
{{Portal|Italy|Companies}}
The number of designers who contributed to the arflex range increased steadily: [[Franco Albini]], [[De Carlo]], [[Belgiojoso]], [[Peressutti]], Roger, Carboni, Pulitzer, Menghi, [[Joe Cesare Colombo|Joe Colombo]], [[Casati]], [[Spadolini]], [[Tito Agnoli]], [[Marenco]], [[Cini Boeri]], Carlo Colombo, Cristof Pilelt, [[Vincent Van Duysen]], [[Michele De Lucchi]], [[Ettore Sottsass]], [[Marco Piva]], and many others.
*[[Category:DesignList of Italian companies]]▼
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
==External links==
* [http://www.arflex.com Official Site of ArflexWebsite]
* [http://www.liever.com/interieur/list?q=arflex Overview of Arflex designs at Liever Interieur]{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
 
[[Category:Companies based in Lombardy]]
[[Category:ItalianDesign designcompanies of Italy]]
▲[[Category:Design companies]]
[[Category:Furniture manufacturers]]
[[Category:Furniture companies of Italy]]
[[Category:Furniture retailers of the United States]]
[[Category:CompaniesManufacturing companies established in 19471948]]
[[Category:1947Italian establishmentscompanies established in Italy1948]]
[[Category:Design companies established in 1948]]
 
[[Category:Italian brands]]
[[es:Arflex]]
[[it:Arflex]]
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