Here's a funky little video from Flos to celebrate the launch of their new catalogue...
And here's the official Flos press release...
FLOS LAUNCHES THE NEW CATALOGUE art direction by Stefanie Barth & Carina Frey photography by Frank Hülsbömer ‘All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.’ – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
April 14, 2015 – On the occasion of the Salone del Mobile, Flos is pleased to present the brand’s new Catalogue of design collections at the Flos Store in Milan, Corso Monforte 9, produced in collaboration with art director team Stefanie Barth & Carina Frey and with photographs by Frank Hülsbömer.
The catalogue is seamlessly aligned with the company’s traditional strategy of devoting the utmost attention to developing highly creative and culturally edgy communication tools. The format is larger, the sophisticated graphic design completely reworked, and the iconography carefully researched, with material from the brand’s historical archive joined by copious new still life and ambience images -from 1960s icons to the latest novelties.
The catalogue begins with an interesting and intimate conversation with Flos CEO Piero Gandini, who tells stories about the company’s origins, his family, his relations with the great masters of design, speaking of strategies and challenges, of the overarching dialogue between past and future, and of his personal concept of light as emotion.
An important space of the catalogue is set aside for the designers, who are an essential part of the Flos universe. The entire introductory chapter is devoted to them, to give consumers a more intimate understanding of the creative minds which produced so many iconic objects. Differentiating completely this volume from the standard concept of technical lighting product catalogue, a series of literary quotations have been researched for use as themed dividers between the various types of lamp - table, floor, suspension and wall/ceiling.
The new Flos catalogue is a highly emotive product in which history, present and future merge in typical Flos fashion. 

FLOS CATALOGUE – Installation curated by Stefanie Barth & Carina Frey with photography and video installation by Frank Hülsbömer Flos Store Corso Monforte 9, Milan 14-19 aprile, 9.30 - 20.00
#FlosCatalogue
A conversation with Stefanie Barth & Carina Frey:
“One day Piero Gandini came to us with the idea to develop a new catalog – a book combining all consumer lamps. Before we worked on the campaign and a concept for new lamp release booklets. ie. Tatou, Aim and the Anastassiades string and IC lamps. Trying to make these editions collectables rather than just sales tools.
We thought it was a great idea – a company with such heritage, wonderful lamps definitely needs a nice update. But when you are looking at a 400 page compendium it quickly became clear it cannot all be shot in this instant and it’s not done with a new photo concept like you would go about for a smaller catalog or brand.
So we thought about first going through the Flos image archive. To get inspired and to see what can be interesting and useful. This was quite a long process. We found some great images and had to find anything that could work and be integrated.
We then thought of a concept of showing each lamp in a studio environment to show the design and beauty of the form and also photos of lamps integrated in different environments and homes. We learned that there are not only lamps that are made for the beauty of the form but also for the light and ambience they create. Then there are different styles and fashions. We had to bridge imagery and styles from the 60s across the 90s to today. Something beautiful and something that differentiates Flos from any brand that starts today. History is a big part – but design today is as important.
We wanted a modern interpretation/imagery of the lamps. Something that feels now, but also something that can hold up with the elegance and high quality of the brand. We contacted the photographer Frank Hülsbömer – a photographer we knew that would develop this modern language with us and also go a longer path of shooting lamps over a year (or more) to get to the final result. It is rare today to find a professional talent to develop such a long term project today.
We would like to consider the new Flos catalog a book. A strive through Flos history placed in a modern context. A showcase of designers that have worked for the brand and that make the brand. Not just a tool for sales but rather an overall compendium of the home collection Flos. A lamp you buy for your home is a very personal decision. The catalog has to bring this across. An eclectic mix of designers and lamps (due to a long history of design) which means an eclectic mix of ambiences and styles. This catalog is supposed to be a collectable, something you want to take home.” Stefanie Barth & Carina Frey
STEFANIE BARTH & CARINA FREY – Bio
Stefanie Barth & Carina Frey met at the Hochschule fuer Gestaltung in Offenbach, Germany and combined in 2009 their years of experience in fashion, design, art and moving image from Paris (Carina) and New York (Stefanie). The same year they became the art directors of the French fashion, art and lifestyle magazine Double, which is one of the international leading voices of avant garde magazin culture today. Currently working between Milan and Paris, Stefanie and Carina work for clients such as Céline, Hermès, Chanel, Dior, Max Mara and other projects that seem compelling and that unite passion for design, fashion, friendship and the pleasure to work with international talents.
The duo is represented at art directors management, Paris admanagement.com


FRANK HÜLSBÖMER – Bio Born in 1968 in Münster/Germany, Frank Hülsbömer happen to see his first daylight in a place, where (as Frank states) “hippie culture was as common as visitors from mars“. After finishing his photo apprenticeship he went to new york for two and a half years, spend the mid 90es in Berlin, then four years in Warsaw and landed beginning of 2000 again in Berlin in a space right next to the former Berlin wall. To claim Frank enjoyed the Berlin subculture and club scene would be fairly understated, he says.
Besides exhibiting in various art museums, galleries and institutions around the world and shooting most of the new catalogue for Flos, his commercial work includes clients like Céline, Hermès, Bulgari, Mulberry, Ruinard, Veuve Cliquot, Nike, Leica, Aston Martin and many others. he worked for magazines such as Double, Wallpaper, Monopol, Numéro, Beaux Arts, Frame, Nowness, Citizen K. He published in 2010 his second artistic monography at Gestalten. He was featured in German Vogue, Wallpaper, Elephant magazine, Sleek and the British Journal of Photography defined him as one of the five most interesting still life photographers of this time.
Those who take the trouble to seek beyond the hyper aesthetics of Frank’s work, would find a fascinating habitat pervaded with dry humour and poetic qualities at the same time. He appears to draw his cues from philosophy, psychology and neuro science. “I rather express the human condition with objects, than gestures or the mimics of my own or other primate species. Some call this still life“, he says with a smile. In the last years Frank Hülsbömer turned his head also towards video and installation, which can be seen on his own web site (http://www.frankhuelsboemer.de) or e.g. the Céline website (https://www.celine.com/en/collections/spring/jewellery). If you would like to discover more of Frank’s commercial work: http://www.thierrykauffmann.com/static2/frank