Mention Kartell and interior design connoisseurs will immediately think about the “4867” chair designed by Joe Colombo in 1965, the “4025” table lamp by Olaf Von Bohr or the more recent “Bookworm” bookcase by Ron Arad and the see-through “Louis Ghost” chair and vase-shaped stool “La Boheme” by Philippe Starck.

Yet, in the last few years, Kartell also started collaborating with fashion companies, releasing collections of shoes designed by normaluisa, and also launching the project “Mademoiselle à la Mode”, that saw leading names of the fashion industry reinterpreting Starck’s iconic “Mademoiselle” chair.

For the next Spring/Summer season Kartell is continuing its collaboration with normaluisa with a new colour range for the “Glue Cinderella” ballerinas and the “Lady” wedge sandals, but it’s also releasing a special “Moschino Loves Kartell” collection of flat ballet shoes. The collaboration was launched last week at Florence’s Pitti W_Woman with an Alice in Wonderland-like installation evoking Kartell’s imaginative world and Moschino’s surrealist universe. This is not the first time Kartell and Moschino join forces: a while back the fashion house upholstered Starck’s “Mademoiselle” chair in original fabric and used them to furnish the Milan-based Moschino hotel.

The “Bow Wow” flat ballet shoe will be available in a typical Moschino palette evoking Olive Oyl’s style and comprising red, white and black, but also in summery colours such as peach, yellow, green and blue, and will be characterised by an interwoven plastic motif and by Moschino’s iconic bow. The shoes are manufactured with an Italian industrial moulding process using top quality, non-toxic thermoplastic and recyclable technopolymer. “The synergy between Kartell and Moschino is rooted in the creative and experimental identity of the two Italian brands, which has led them to work together on projects that extend from design to fashion and vice versa,” stated Moschino’s Creative Director Rossella Jardini, “The ‘Bow Wow’ shoes are a result of this reciprocal influence and are both a design object and an accessible fun fashion accessory.”

The “Moschino Loves Kartell” collection will be available from January 2011 from multi-brand boutiques, single-brand Moschino stores and Kartell flag stores.