6

THE HISTORY

With nearly a century of experience

behind them and a new experimental

phase on the horizon: as the Zucchetti

brand nears its 100th birthday, it strength-

ens its history and institutional identity by

renewing and sharpening its design direc-

tion and image. Inside the new Zucchetti

Group, the Zucchetti and Kos brands will

be distinct yet complementary—continu-

ing to operate with decision, character

and quality in the world of bathrooms and

wellness, while increasing the diversity

of languages and forming new collabora-

tions with the design field.

Zucchetti’s story first begins back in

1929, with a small foundry in Valduggia

(Piedmont) set up by Alfredo Zucchetti.

Today the Zucchetti Group is led by the

third generation, Elena and Carlo, with

cousins Marco and Paolo Zucchetti. The

group consists of 2 factories, covering

a total surface of about 35,000 square

metres, employing 200 people and pro-

ducing 600.000 articles every year.

The basic values of Zucchetti have

always been innovation, design, and

quality: the essential cornerstones that

have guided the firm throughout its

history. After an early phase manufac-

turing industrial valves and fittings, in

1950 the factory is converted to produce

chrome sanitary taps.

In the early 1950s the firm brings in Mario

and Luciano Zucchetti, Alfredo’s sons.

Mario, president and enlightened entre-

preneur goes on to lead the company for

nearly fifty years. He steers the company

towards, technological and commercial

advancement and major production

development: he completes the large

new headquarters in Gozzano (Novara)

which he equips with advanced manufac-

turing facilities, he exhibits the brand at

the Milan trade fair and then, one by one,

at all the other most important interna-

tional trade fairs. Mario also opens the

first Zucchetti export office, to conquer

international markets engaged in the

post-war reconstruction. The first signif-

icant overseas contracts come in 1958:

Canada and Australia (among the others)

become important new markets for

the firm. In 1970 is founded the second

company of the Group, Zucchetti Mario

S.p.A., specialized in hot forging of brass

and other metal alloys. While Omez S.p.A.

dedicated to moulding of plastics, is

established in 1983.

The seventies see the company start its

own path in the world of design. Mario

Zucchetti strongly believed in the impor-

tance of the design image of any product,

as a synthesis of innovative technical

and aesthetic values. He decides to call

in Studio Nizzoli for the first single-lever

mixer produced in Italy.

In the eighties, Zucchetti enters the

world of communication, both on tele-

vision and in the press, with the aim

of building a strong, recognised brand.

The company has never abandoned this

course because it is fully aware of the

importance of conveying its values and

excellence through several communica-

tion channels.

With the turn of the century, the bathroom

moves centre-stage, reflecting changes

in society and culture as taste evolves

in line with consumer sensitivity and the

bathroom becomes the “bathing room”.

Attentive to changing sociological and

man-made aspects, Zucchetti is one

of the first to believe in investments in

increasingly more innovative projects,

meeting the demands of a public looking

for desirable experiences rather than

necessary objects. In 2004 the company

decides to avail of the strategic con-

sultancy services of Ludovica+Roberto

Palomba, new art directors of the brand.

2007 sees the birth of the project for a

complete bathroom proposal, following

the acquisition of Kos, a brand associ-

ated with the best production of design

bathtubs and shower cabins. A bath-

room-world that shifts from a merely

functionality level to one of sensation and

physical seduction, giving rise to one of

the most interesting, eclectic design reali-

ties linked to the bathroom sector.

2019 marks a new turning point with the

definition of Zucchetti Group and the new

art direction by Matteo Fiorini Studio.

The group is formed to represent insti-

tutionally and join the two Zucchetti and

Kos brands, with the precise intent to

enhance its specificity, pushing their com-

plementarity and difference.