Ten is a number that marks a new milestone for Kartell. Ten Compasso d’Oro awards. Ten milestones in a journey that has helped write the history of international industrial design. On 5 September 2025, in the Italy pavilion of Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kartell will receive its tenth Compasso d’Oro for H.H.H. – Her Highest Highness, the chair designed by Philippe Starck that embodies the very essence of contemporary design: sustainability, technology and powerful, essential lines.
The 2025 edition of Compasso d’Oro, Italy’s most authoritative design awards, assumes an international dimension in a special edition promoted in collaboration with the General Commission for Italy at Expo 2025 in Osaka. The award ceremony will be held in the Italy pavilion, a symbol of the ingenuity and creativity of Italian exports, with the participation of Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the BIE, and Mario Vattani, the General Commissioner for Italy.
“Designing Future Society for Our Lives” is the area in which ADI has chosen to reward H.H.H., in recognition of an excellent design that interprets the future with awareness and vision. The H.H.H. chair is the result of a process of subtraction. It minimises material to maximise intelligence. Every design choice is dictated by a proper balance between style, responsibility and innovation. The frame is derived from recycled material and is made using a sophisticated injection moulding technology capable of producing extremely thin parts. This is particularly visible in the armrests, which take lightness to its logical conclusion without compromising strength and comfort.
The chair boasts five different identities, made possible by a choice of five finishes: super-gloss, matte, recycled leather tanned in an environmentally friendly process, and eco-friendly texture, derived from renewable sources. As part of the Kartell for Liberty project, the chair is covered in six lively Liberty® floral prints that give it a truly expressive new look. To complete the chair’s stylistic language, Kartell has adopted a new Graphic Impression technique, a high-precision printing process capable of transferring patterns on to complex and curved surfaces and guaranteeing an extremely sophisticated finish. This new technology has enriched H.H.H. with four floral and geometric patterns available in a choice of nine colour combinations.
Kartell’s ten Compasso d’Oro awards highlight a brand identify that has proved able to evolve while remaining faithful to its values.
Kartell’s Compasso d’Oro awards2025 - H.H.H. – Her Highest Highness chair. Philippe Starck
2001 - Bubble Club sofa. Philippe Starck
1994 - - Mobil containers. Antonio Citterio with Oliver Löw
1987 - - 4870 stackable chair. Anna Castelli Ferrieri
1979 - - Kartell
1964- - K 1340 child’s chair. Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper
1960 - - KS 1171 modular dish drainer. Gino Colombini.
1959 - - KS 1481 lemon squeezer. Gino Colombini.
1957 - - KS 1065 rectangular basin. Gino Colombini. 1957-1963.
1955 - - Round bucket with lid. Gino Colombini.
