Chair/Armchair with steel frame, covered with leather, decorative stitching possible - Karlotta - Colico

Charakteristic of Karlotta is its original leg design: a chair of significant value that combines attention to detail and skillful leather processing into an exquisite product, perfect for residential and executive interiors.

Creative design combined with incredible projects gives the Colico brand its synonym. It’s a nod to true craftsmanship, multi-generational manufacturing, and details that ultimately influence the style of the finished products. A major advantage of these exclusive chairs is the wide range of color options and combinations, allowing you to create your dream design within your interior.

A bit of brand history

It’s 1920, in Brianza, a land with a peasant tradition near Milan, where the first design and carpentry schools are founded, and artisan furniture shops are gaining strength. This is where the company’s story begins. A family story that starts with Andrea Colico and his passion for chairs, which he produces in a small courtyard in the town of Cabiate.

1950s

After the difficult post-war years, Antonio, Andrea’s son, feels a new wave of change. Aware of the growing attention from the bourgeois public to the value of the home and related goods, their refined taste, and the ongoing process of urbanization, he chooses to move himself and his family to Varedo, close to what is becoming one of Europe’s most important cities: Milan.

1960s

These are the golden years for furniture. Chair production, deeply rooted in the territory where it operates, draws on local taste and tradition and always maintains a strong sense of belonging. But for Antonio, that’s not enough; he is a cautious entrepreneur who seizes the opportunity presented by the development of a new district in the heart of Friuli Venezia Giulia, beginning to differentiate between semi-finished products purchased in Udine province and the processing continued in his laboratory in Brianza.

1970s

Antonio Colico continues to grow and develop. These are flourishing years, times of economic growth, where work is seen as a social value. At this historic moment, Antonio decides to open a manufacturing plant in Friuli, a region increasingly specialized in wood processing for chair production. However, the head and heart of the company remain in Brianza, where Antonio’s wife and his most loyal collaborators continue working on finishes and product details, focusing on quality and craftsmanship that the company is known for. The commercial structure also began to take shape with participation in its first Salone Internazionale del Mobile in 1970, an event to which the Colico family would dedicate the next 50 years.

1980s

The third significant phase in the Colico family’s entrepreneurial history began in the 1980s. Young Walter, Antonio and Maria’s eldest son, supports his father in managing the company. Thanks to design studies abroad, Walter opens the doors of the family business to design and international markets, drawing inspiration from and targeting these markets. The new company, Colico Design, was founded in 1982.

1990s

Ten years after the new company’s founding, Walter’s younger brother Diego joins. Along with their father Antonio and an increasingly consolidated family of collaborators, the company develops and strengthens its presence on international markets, also through participation in trade fairs. These are years of experimentation, tentative approaches to using colors, but also a focus on lines that Walter desired—becoming more of a creative force within the company thanks to his talent for beautiful, eccentric, and experimental designs.

2000

At the turn of the century, Colico Design expands thanks to its Italian and international distribution network. It’s time to focus on image, to work on the flagship collection. Walter begins collaborating with young architects and promising designers. The success was immediate: new, important business contacts were established, and Colico products started being featured in major TV programs across entertainment, sports, news, and lifestyle sectors.

2010

Walter, together with his childhood friend, now renowned architect Kicco Bestetti, creates a iconic product: the Milano 2015 chair. In this product, he gives his all: love for his city and joy from being a guest at Expo 2015, a passion for color and new technologies, a line of classic design, as well as memories and emotions of form, with which he has lived in close contact since childhood. It is an instant success that continues to this day and has placed Milano 2015 at the center of several projects, including Design for Charity held in the magnificent setting of the Triennale building in April 2011, featuring artists of caliber such as Karima Rashid, Piero Lissoni, Elio Fiorucci, and Patricia Urquiola.

2015

Walter’s path of discovery and introspection leads to 2015, a year that marks a return to origins through a new collection where wood and upholstery take center stage, culminating in the creation of a new logo. The logo places the family, roots, and blood ties at its core, but also the people who contributed to shaping the history and tradition of this company, which celebrates a century of history. It also reflects a focus on innovation, a desire to offer something different, and questions about what an unconventional project truly is.

2020

Today, Colico celebrates its 100th anniversary. A century spent by a family passing down their knowledge from generation to generation. A company committed to growth while maintaining a family dimension, integrating its business and life with that of every individual who develops and lives within it.