Lagostina is an Italian manufacturer of

cookware Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookware ...

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffie ...

and other

kitchenware :'' For a record label, see Kitchenware Records'' Kitchenware are the tools, utensils, appliances, dishes, and cookware used in food preparation, or the serving of food. Kitchenware can also be used in order to hold or store food before or aft ...

. They are also an important manufacturer of

pressure cooker Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which c ...

s. Lagostina was founded in 1901 in

Omegna Omegna (, , ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Verbania at the northernmost point of Lago d’Orta and traversed by the ...

Province of Verbania Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (Italian: ''Provincia del Verbano Cusio Ossola'' ) is the northernmost province in the Italian region of Piedmont. It was created in 1992 through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previously been part of the Pr ...

, Italy, as a family business initially focusing on

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

flatware.

History

1901–1930 : A region that drives men to surpass themselves

''Lagostina'' was born in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. On the shores of

Lake Orta Lake Orta (Italian: ''Lago d’Orta'') is a lake in northern Italy, west of Lake Maggiore. It has been so named since the 16th century, but was previously called Lago di San Giulio, after Saint Julius (4th century), the patron saint of the regi ...

, 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 based mainly on

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

, and contributed to the beginnings of industrial progress. The distribution of

electric power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...

, the development of railway network and the presence of a skilled workforce heavily impulsed 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 up to 30,000 pieces per day and included among its main customers the Navy, Army and Aeronautics.

1932–1956 : The beginnings of stainless steel

Massimo Lagostina, grandnephew of the founder, launched the first

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 style art of living. In 1929, at the Fair of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Massimo saw the first

sheets. In the United States and Sweden, industrial production of this

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

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

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 challenge to impose these new ranges. He made great efforts to make his new and much more expensive products accepted on the market. The first customers were communities, hospitals, liners but also department stores such as

La Rinascente (La) Rinascente (; ) is a collection of high-end stores with Italian and international brands in fashion, accessories, beauty, homeware, design and food. It operates eleven stores in Italy, including its general headquarters in Milan and two fla ...

. The first retailers were mainly located in the

and

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. Meanwhile, the rise of ''Lagostina'' continues through the manufacturing of technical parts for the

aircraft industry An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

until 1940. Indeed, demand for technical parts strongly increases during the War.

1957–1971: The success of stainless steel

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 thermodiffusion base: Thermoplan, which provides excellent

heat conductivity The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of its ability to heat conduction, conduct heat. It is commonly denoted by k, \lambda, or \kappa. Heat transfer occurs at a lower rate in materials of low thermal conductivity than in materials ...

across the bottom of the product. 1960 marks the birth of the ''Lagostina''

, with its system of closure and openness so characteristic : with a lever and a flexible cover, the product is entirely made of

whereas in rest of Europe, this type of product is still made of aluminium. Thus a new plant and new office were built with the help of the 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and particularly to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 Osvaldo Cavandoli (1 January 1920 – 3 March 2007), also known by his pen name Cava, was an Italian cartoonist. His most famous work is his series of short animated cartoons, '' La Linea'' ("The Line"). Early life, family and education Cavandol ...

. ''Lagostina'' became one of the first Italian companies to understand the importance of

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. Other famous designers helped the brand to establish its awareness and strong personality. Thus,

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...

designed the "Atmosphere"

and the "Modia".

1972–2001: The establishment of a prestigious image dedicated to Culinary Art

This last part of the 20th century was characterized by a process of

diversification Diversification may refer to: Biology and agriculture * Genetic divergence, emergence of subpopulations that have accumulated independent genetic changes * Agricultural diversification involves the re-allocation of some of a farm's resources to n ...

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

appears :the "steam cooking"; and the launch in 1986 of the "Pastaoila", a special pot to cook and drain pasta.

2005: A new approach based on the original culture of the brand

''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'' works 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.

Products

Lagostina produces premium cookware features such as stoves, pots, pans, cast iron pots and tableware (services, flatware...). Although they are an Italian brand, their products are made in China, France and Italy (''whenever the product is made in Italy or France it is advertised as such'').

Innovations

Among the last innovations of the brand, there is « Melodia Triply » and, most of all, the new

s Domina and Maga with new open-close patented system « Easy Opening ». In 2009, Lagostina launches La Collezione Rossa, a worldwide innovation in the field of cookware. This collection is the result of a unique technological process (Steel&Color) allowing the fusion of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

with color . The collection was awarded by the famous prize

Red Dot Design Award The Red Dot Design Award is a German international design prize awarded by Red Dot GmbH & Co. KG. There are prize categories for product design, brands and communication design, and design concept. Since 1955, designers and producers can apply ...

2009.