Kettal Group

Kettal Group has been selected as a 2026 Industry Icon in Home, Design & Smart Living by The 2026 List, brought to you by Industry & Influence, recognizing the company’s six decades of design leadership, influential collaborations, architectural approach to outdoor living, and continued expansion into flexible workplace and pavilion systems.

Kettal turns 60 in 2026.

That milestone is meaningful because the company’s history mirrors a larger transformation in design.

Outdoor furniture was once treated as a secondary category, separated from the sophistication of the interior.

Kettal helped erase that boundary.

Today its collections move between terraces, hotels, homes, offices, restaurants, pavilions, and public environments with a design language that treats outdoor living as architecture rather than an afterthought.

Sixty Years of Design Without Standing Still

Founded in 1966, Kettal has spent six decades working with internationally recognized designers while maintaining a strong internal design identity.

Its collaborators include Patricia Urquiola, Antonio Citterio, Jasper Morrison, Vincent Van Duysen, Doshi Levien, Ronan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, and other major figures in contemporary design.

For its anniversary, Kettal revisited nine icons from its history rather than building the celebration around nostalgia.

The approach reflects one of the company’s strengths.

Important designs can be preserved, reissued, improved, and placed back into contemporary environments without becoming museum pieces.

Collections such as Basket and Loden demonstrate how archival design can be updated through modern materials and technical standards while retaining its original character.

Milan 2026 as a Statement of Direction

Kettal used Milan Design Week 2026 to connect its history with what comes next.

The presentation included new living collections by designers such as Patricia Urquiola, Jasper Morrison, Vincent Van Duysen, Antonio Citterio, and Miguel Milá.

It also brought workplace and architectural systems into the same conversation.

That matters because the boundaries between residential, hospitality, outdoor, and office design continue to blur.

People want work environments that feel less institutional.

Hotels increasingly borrow from residential comfort.

Homes borrow from hospitality.

Outdoor spaces are expected to function with the same design intelligence as interiors.

Kettal is positioned directly inside that convergence.

Furniture Becomes Architecture

One of the most distinctive parts of Kettal’s business is its pavilion and architectural systems.

These structures allow designers to create flexible outdoor rooms, meeting spaces, enclosures, and work environments without treating furniture and architecture as separate decisions.

In 2026, the company introduced an Eames Pavilion System developed from the structural logic of the Eames House.

The project accompanied an Eames House exhibition at Triennale Milano and translated a historically important architectural idea into a contemporary modular solution.

That move is characteristic of Kettal.

The company is interested not only in the object placed inside a space, but in the system that defines the space itself.

Material Intelligence Matters Outdoors

Outdoor design places unusual demands on materials.

Furniture must manage sun, rain, temperature changes, corrosion, UV exposure, cleaning, and heavy use while still feeling refined.

Kettal works extensively with aluminum, technical fabrics, ropes, ceramics, wood, paints, and engineered finishes.

The company says it uses 80 percent recycled aluminum in the extrusion of profiles for products such as its Mesh collection.

That choice reflects how sustainability and material performance increasingly intersect.

Lightweight, corrosion-resistant aluminum works well outdoors, but recycled content can also materially reduce the environmental impact of production.

Workplace Design Expands the Brand

Kettal’s Workplace business extends the company into offices, collaboration spaces, acoustic rooms, pavilions, and adaptable workplace systems.

Its 2026 Milan presentation included new workplace designs from Foster + Partners and Barber Osgerby alongside living collections.

That combination is significant.

It suggests that Kettal does not see workplace as a separate commercial category with a different design philosophy.

Instead, it applies the same ideas of comfort, architecture, material quality, and flexibility across environments.