First look – Bottega Veneta and Flos release a special edition of the Model 600

In partnership with Bottega Veneta

Gino Sarfatti’s Model 600 Lamp is a favourite for discerning design fans. When it was first unveiled at the Triennale in 1968, no one had seen a light quite like it and it has remained as curious and covetable to this day. So it is with great excitement that we greet the announcement of a special edition Model 600 – the result of a collaboration between Bottega Veneta and Flos, two brands with an eye for an icon and a commitment to craft.

Born in Venice in 1912, Sarfatti was one of the most pioneering and prolific lighting designers of the post-war period. He founded Arteluce in 1939 and designed more than 600 lights over the course of his life. As with the great Italian modernists he married advances in technology and manufacturing with a lovable humanity, and his Model 600 is a perfect case in point. It is famous for its stitched leather base filled with lead pellets, which turns the humble light fixture into a friendly companion. For all that we love the precision engineering of a trusty anglepoise, the satisfying squash of a pellet-filled sack is more fun to play with, and arguably does a better job of angling your light source exactly where you want it.

Sarfatti designed the Model 600 in 1966, the same year that Bottega Veneta was founded in Vicenza. The Model 600 was originally manufactured by Arteluce, which Saraftti sold to Flos in 1973, so it feels fitting that Bottega Veneta and Flos have joined forces to bring the Model 600 back to life. The partnership, overseen by Bottega Veneta’s creative director Matthieu Blazy, has been respectful and faithful to the charm of the original design, honouring Sarfatti’s design ingenuity while gently flexing the brands’ own commitment to craft and innovation, both sensitively and appropriately.

What’s new and noteworthy is the leather base, to which Bottega Veneta has introduced its signature Infilato and Foulard Intrecciato techniques, adding a grown-up handsome elegance to the more preppy sack of the original. The characterful shape of the original’s bulb is present and correct, updated here with the latest LED technology. Suitable not just on the desk but on any surface or floor, the special edition comes in two sizes and is available in a variety of colourways. These include black, grey, red, emerald green and Bottega Veneta’s signature green, which brings a verdant verve to proceedings.

Find out more and shop the lamps at bottegaveneta.comand flos.com