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Functional, playful, fun and engaging. Here is the new kids collection of Kartell you don’t want to miss. The Italian design brand launches their first children’s collection at Salone del Mobile (12th -17th April 2016, Milano). Kartell has joined international designers (Nendo, Philippe Starck, Ferruccio Laviani and others) and presents products for kids with stylish plastic silhouettes in pastel and pop hues.

Playful objects combine functionality and strength, clean design and charm.

“Kartell has always been close to the experiential spheres associated with children, through concepts hinged on the themes of exploration, research and innovation,”.  ‘As well as being functional, our products are intrinsically playful, fun and engaging’ says Claudio Luti, president of Kartell.

The new kids line allowed the designers to experiment in an area that they perhaps have not before, engaging with a younger audience. Where Nendo approached his stools with the idea of the emotion of a smile, creating a face in the imprint of the seat, Laviani got into the youthful mindset for his building game, which he describes as ‘trying to approach their world more than ours’. Kartell’s range includes the rocking chair by Japanese studio Nendo, a toy tractor called Testa Calda and a race car named Discovolante are made from sheets of tinted plastic, which are shaped into seats and chassis. Designed by Lissoni, the small four-wheeled rideable vehicles come in a range of colour combinations.

In full celebration of the launch, the brand is also bringing back its loved icons in a new child friendly palette, as seen in Ron Arad’s ‘Bookworm’ and Giulio Polvara’s modular bookcase. They are also providing a customisation service, adding names and drawings to the ‘Lou Lou Ghost’  by Philippe Starck or ‘FL/Y’ lamp by Ferruccio Laviani – a little added interactive design fun for smaller people to enjoy. Similar patterns can be applied to the tops of mini versions of Kartell’s range of tables.