Arco, Taraxacum, Parentesi, Toio, Luminator... iconic Italian designer lamps, are part of the Flos catalogue, a company founded in Merano in 1962 by two visionaries of Italian design, Dino Gavina and Cesare Cassina. In 1964 these two "founding fathers" were joined by Sergio Gandini, the owner of a store called Stile located in Brescia. The company's first designers were Tobia Scarpa and Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni, to which the names of other designers were soon added. In 1974 Flos bought Arteluce, an historical company that had been created by Gino Sarfatti in 1939. In 1988 the company's exclusive collaboration with Philippe Starck began. Piero Gandini, Sergio's son, entered the company and was appointed CEO in 1996, becoming its chairman in 1999. Piero continues to work keeping the blueprint bequeathed by the company founders well in mind, but he has also opened the doors to young talented designers. He has expanded the company to the architectural world, creating, thanks to the purchase of the Spanish Antares, the Flos Architectural Lighting division.