Original steel Rapper chair - Colico

Industrial style, basic colors, and simple yet sophisticated interweaving of lines make Rapper a chair born in times of contrasts and honesty.

Innovative 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 Brief History of the Company

It is 1920, and in Brianza, a land rich in farming tradition near Milan, 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 difficult post-war years, Antonio, Andrea’s son, senses a first wave of change. Aware of the growing attention from the bourgeois public to the value of 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 the most important cities in Europe: Milan.

1960s

This is the golden age of 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; Antonio is a cautious entrepreneur and seizes the opportunity presented by the development of a new district in the heart of Friuli Venezia Giulia. He begins to distinguish semi-finished products purchased in the Udine province from the processing continued in his laboratory in Brianza.

1970s

Antonio Colico continues to grow and develop. These are flourishing years, years 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 brand remain in Brianza, where Antonio’s wife and his most loyal collaborators continue working on product finishes and details, paying attention to quality and craftsmanship, which the company is known for. The commercial structure also began to take shape thanks to participation in the 1970 Salone Internazionale del Mobile, an event to which the Colico family would dedicate the next 50 years.

1980s

The third significant phase in the entrepreneurial history of the Colico family began in the 1980s. Young Walter, Antonio and Maria’s eldest son, supports his father in managing the company. Thanks to design studies conducted abroad, Walter opens the doors of the family business to design and international markets, which inspire him and towards which he directs his gaze. The new company was founded in 1982 and named Colico Design.

1990s

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

2000

At the turn of the century, Colico Design expands thanks to Italian and international distribution networks. It’s time to focus on the brand image, to work on a representative 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 the most popular TV programs in entertainment, sports, news, and lifestyle.

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 immediate 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 the caliber of Karima Rashid, Piero Lissoni, Elio Fiorucci, and Patricia Urquiola.

2015

The path of discovery and introspection for Walter leads to 2015, a year that marks a return to the origins through a new collection where wood and upholstery take center stage, culminating in the creation of a new logo. The logo, which places family, roots, and blood ties at its core, also honors the people who contributed to shaping the history and tradition of this company, celebrating a century of its story. But it also reflects a concern for the new, a desire to propose a different product, an engagement, and a question: what is an unconventional design?

2020

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

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