Lagostina

Lagostina was born in Piedmont, Omegna. On the shores of Lake Orta, a region famous for handcrafted household goods production, the company was founded by Carlo Lagostina and his son Emilio.

The metalcrafters gradually settled in this country where the economy was mainly based on wood, and contributed to the beginnings of industrial progress. The distribution of electric power, the development of railway network and the presence of a skilled workforce heavily impacted the industrial boom.

Lagostina was created in 1901 and quickly became an expert in the manufacture of tinned iron flatware. In the early 1930s, the flatware production reached 30,000 pieces per day and its main customers included the Navy, Army and Aeronautics.

Massimo Lagostina, grand nephew of the founder, launched the first stainless steel kitchen tools. This material, totally new for this purpose but already known for its aesthetic qualities and its robustness, enables Lagostina to express the Italian art style of living.

In 1929, at the Fair of Milan, Massimo saw the first stainless steel sheets. In the United States and Sweden, industrial production of this alloy began after a long period of studies and experiences. At that time the first products manufactured for the chemical and food industries were experimented. Massimo quickly understood that this material could also be used successfully in the field of kitchen tools.

In Italy, the first collection of stainless steel kitchenware was created in 1934 by Lagostina : « Casa Mia ». The range bore the famous logo of "the little house with smoking chimney" and a met great success, immortalized in 1956 in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA).

At that time, selling steel pots and pans was not easy and Massimo faced the challenges to impose these new ranges. He made great efforts to make his new and much more expensive products acceptable to the market. The first customers were communities, hospitals, liners but also departmental stores such as La Rinascente in Milan. The first retailers were mainly located in Piedmont and Lombardy.

Meanwhile, the rise of Lagostina continues through the manufacturing of technical parts for the aircraft industry until 1940. Indeed, demand for technical parts strongly increases during the War.

The years 1956–1957 showed the end of tinned iron production. It was a turning point for Lagostina: the manufacturing process went from manual era to more mechanized manufacturing.

The company established its own research and development laboratory in order to promote the development of innovative processes. The industrial boom inexorably went ahead in 1955 with the launch of the first thermo-diffusion base: Thermoplan, which provides excellent heat conductivity across the bottom of the product. 1960 marks the birth of the Lagostina pressure cooker, with its system of closure and openness so characteristic : of a lever and a flexible cover, the product is entirely made of stainless steel whereas in the rest of Europe, this type of product is still made with aluminium.

Thus a new plant and new office were built with the help of architect Carlo Mazzeri, who had already participated as a designer to create the Moon Line handles and the kettle with Thermoplan base. Coming years dedicated to export, to Canada and particularly to France where a sales subsidiary was founded in 1967. During those years, Lagostina kept on drawing attention by an innovative and humorous communication such as "The Line" (La Linea) created by Osvaldo Cavandoli. Lagostina became one of the first Italian companies to understand the importance of advertising.

Other famous designers helped the brand to establish its awareness and strong personality. Thus, Giorgetto Giugiaro designed the "Atmosphere" pressure cooker and the "Media".

This last part of the 20th century was characterized by a process of diversification of ranges. Indeed, over the years, Lagostina had adapted its production to changing culinary methods and flavors: in the 1980s, a new function for the pressure cooker appears :the "steam cooking"; and the launch in 1986 of the "Pastaoila", a special pot to cook and drain pasta.

Lagostina become a brand of Groupe SEB in 2004 and its positioning and identity are redefined in order to re-establish its high-end image.

In 2009, Lagostina worked jointly with the famous Swiss photographer Steeve Iuncker in order to pay homage to Italian women who cook, from generation to generation, the best pasta in the world. Lagostina publishes the book « PASTA » : through a gallery of portraits. The reader gets to know Emanuela, Antonella, Lucia ... Modern Italian women who wished to share their culinary secrets under the lens of the photographer.