Flou

Flou launched with a single product in 1978: the Nathalie bed, designed by Vico Magistretti. It was the first modern textile bed whose covers came off completely, originally with velcro strips, so they could be washed or replaced. Forty-two years later, in September 2020, that same bed won the Compasso d'Oro ADI, a rare award for a product of that age.

The founder, Rosario Messina, was a Sicilian entrepreneur who settled in Brianza. His family has owned the company outright since 1998, and Cristiana, Manuela and Massimiliano Messina run it today. The headquarters has never left Meda, at Via Cadorna 12.

Around the bed, Flou built the whole of sleep: mattresses, bases, pillows, duvets, more than three hundred coordinated bed linen sets, and a full wardrobe and dressing-room system. The company talks about a culture of sleeping rather than about decoration, which is why the catalogue goes down to the detail of a cover and how to wash it. Sofas, tables and the outdoor range came afterwards.

Artopia carries Flou in Geneva. One practical note before you visit: what separates these beds from others shows up when you strip a cover and lie down, not in a styled photograph.