Mobility
Electric Kartell

While carmaker Smart celebrated its departure from the combustion engine model with a special model designed by Konstantin Grcic, its rivals at Fiat aretaking a somewhat different approach: The Italians are celebrating the premier of the new Fiat 500 full electric with three show cars, to which end it garnered the collaboration of the country’s most prestigious design brands. Jewelers Bulgari, famous fashion house Giorgio Armani and furniture maker Kartell were each involved in designing a car. Each show car not only bears the logo of the respective brand on the bodywork and seats it was also attempted to infuse the compact electric car with as much of the respective corporate identity as possible.

For the Kartell-500 model, CEO Claudio Luti and his creative team at Kartell umbued the car with several design elements from the “Kabuki” luminaire, designed by Ferruccio Laviani. The characteristic decorative pattern that covers the entire lamp is also featured several times on the show car – on the hub caps, the radiator grill and the wing mirror housing. Moreover, this key theme is to be found inside it, too; on the dashboard and on the seats where it was included as a relief in the fabric. The Fiat 500 Kartell comes in a bright blue, the company’s signature color, which was derived from the famous Yves-Klein blue.

Incidentally, the project was also a highly personal matter for Kartell's CEO Luti – who is also president of the Salone del Mobile in Milan. He has a deeply emotional relationship with the legendary Cinquecento: “The first car I bought after passing my driving test was a Fiat 500. A car that I drove in the best years of my life as a younger man.”